
Book_ ' 

Copyright^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



The 

Career of the Child 

MAXIMILIAN P. E. GROSZMANN, Pd. D. 

Author of "Some Fundamental Verities in Education" 




RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS 
BOSTON 



Copyright, 1911, by Richard G. Badger 



All Rights Reserved 



v v ^' 






The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. 



' CI. A '2 S (> 4 01 



INTRODUCTION 

THE subject of pedagogy is making rapid strides. 
A body of scientific principles is rapidly being 
collected from the sciences of biology, psychol- 
ogy, anthropology, and sociology, all of which 
must be considered in the composite, applied science of edu- 
cation. One of the keenest, most patient and far-sighted 
workers in this applied science is Dr. Groszmann, author 
of the present volume. He has devoted many years to care- 
ful observation and experimentation in schools for both nor- 
mal and abnormal children. This work has been supple- 
mented by a careful testing of results in a practical way. 

The long experience of Dr. Groszmann in the Ethical 
Culture School of New York City, and his more recent ex- 
perience at Watchung Crest in dealing with atypical and 
subnormal children, added to his thorough and critical 
scholarship of the German type, has fitted him admirably 
for a discussion of the curriculum and of scientific methods 
in education. 

In making a curriculum it is frequently assumed that the 
selection of subjects and the amount of time given to each 
subject can be determined without any reference to the chil- 
dren to be taught or the ultimate aim of education. Tradi- 
tion has been the dominant factor determining both the 
matter and the method in education. 

Dr. Groszmann has made a careful analysis of the aims 

3 



4 INTRODUCTION 

of education; of physical, mental, and moral stages of growth 
and the best conditions under which this growth can be pro- 
moted and the aims of education attained. The subject mat- 
ter is then analyzed to see in what way it may be made to 
contribute to the ideal development. But as the experiences 
of a normal individual are complex and varied it is neces- 
sary that unity of life and development be brought out of 
disparity of experiences, oftentimes apparently conflicting. 
This problem of co-ordination is an important factor in Dr. 
Groszmann's treatment. 

In addition to the German idea of the spiral arrangement 
of studies, Dr. Groszmann has emphasized the idea that no 
true center of correlation can be found in the subjects them- 
selves. At best such correlations must be artificial and un- 
psychological. The true center of correlation is the child 
himself. By this plan it is possible to follow the child's in- 
terests — and needs — and to emphasize things important for 
the particular child or group, and to "eliminate what is un- 
essential, useless, and consequently burdensome." Dr. 
Groszmann has shown how the various activities should not 
properly be called subjects, but that there are the play ac- 
tivities, manual activities, and the various kinds of interests 
which demand varieties of knowledge which we conveniently 
systematize into subjects such as geography, arithmetic, his- 
tory, etc. While he does not advocate making these sub- 
jects incidental, they should grow out of the interests of the 
child and the problems which he must feel to be real prob- 
lems. 



INTRODUCTION 5 

The first phase of pedagogy to receive discussion was 
that of methods. Many volumes have been written upon the 
subject of general and special methods, but upon no branch 
of pedagogical knowledge has the influence of scientific prin- 
ciples been so little felt. A great part of all that has been 
written down to the present time has been either from the 
purely logical point of view or has consisted of trite discus- 
sions by pedagogical theorists. In the present book, the au- 
thor has made a long step in advance in the direction of 
working out methods from the standpoint of the science of 
education. 

Method should be determined by the laws of development 
of the child instead of by pure logic and the subject matter 
itself. Method means not only a logical arrangement of the 
materials in a given subject of instruction, but also the ques- 
tion of its adaptation to nascent growth periods of the child 
and his interests as determined by native instincts and en- 
vironment. Even in teaching mathematics the laws of 
growth and development of the child must be considered. In 
recent years the order of topics in mathematics has been very 
materially changed to harmonize with the well established 
laws of growth. Dr. Groszmann has pointed out the fact 
that not only chronological growth and physiological growth, 
but also psychological growth periods must be observed. 

While the teacher of the various subjects which are treated 
in this volume will find little or nothing of prescription in 
the way of a definite curriculum to be followed day by day, 
the fundamental principles which determine what a child 



6 INTRODUCTION 

can be taught and the relations between the given subject 
and other subjects are thoroughly established. 

It would mean much if every teacher from the kinder- 
garten through the university could be well grounded in 
the fundamental principles of biology, anthropology, psy- 
chology, and sociology, and could then under guidance of a 
master study the great educational problems in the light of 
all the foregoing contributory sciences. This should be fol- 
lowed by a careful study of the special method in the par- 
ticular subject to be taught. Adequate knowledge of the 
subject itself is, of course, presupposed. The present vol- 
ume points in the direction which subsequent writers on 
education will find it profitable to travel. 

Frederick E. Bolton, 
i State University of Iowa. 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Page 

Introduction 3 

I Dignity and Responsibility of the Teacher's 

Profession 9 

// The Significance of the Kindergarten and Its 

Rational Development 24 

777 The Principle of Co-ordination of Studies. . 45 

IV The Physical Side of Education 66 

V A Rational Course of Study 78 

VI The Manual Principle 102 

VII Kinds of Manual Expression 114 

VIII The Mathematical Evolution of the Child . . 130 

IX Geography as a Collective Center 148 

X History as a Collective Center 157 

XI Nature Work as an Objective Basis 170 

XII Language Teaching 180 

XIII Reading and Literature 209 

XIV Oral and Written Composition 227 

XV Grading and Promotion 242 

XVI Hygienic Suggestions 225 

XVII Problems of Discipline 269 

XVIII The Treatment of Defectives 282 

XIX Criminality in Children 298 

A — As to Causes. 
B — As to Redemies. 
XX The Meaning of High School Education and 

Secondary Differentiations 322 



The Career of the Child 

CHAPTER I 

Dignity and Responsibility of the Teacher s Profession 

BEFORE the life of man had assumed the differ- 
entiated character which resulted from the division 
of labor, the functions which now are singly 
assigned to different individuals were more or less 
collectively represented by all. In patriarchal 
society, every head of a family was his own provider, and 
what are now diverse trades were pursued as the common 
tasks of daily life. During the pioneer period of our own 
country, similar conditions prevailed, and the stately matron 
of by-gone times wove and finished with her own hand the 
linen and cloth from which she would make her lord's and 
her children's as well as her own garments ; while the worthy 
husbandman was his own blacksmith, shoemaker, carpenter, 
and what not. Of course, at times they had, like Robinson 
in the story, recourse to the vast stores and manufactures of 
their European homes, importations from there having been 
the basis of their pioneer life in the wilderness. The primi- 
tive family, however, had no opportunity for such importa- 
tions — it had to exist upon its own resources exclusively ; and 
the knowledge and skill requisite for the various perform- 
ances which signaled the dawn of civilization, were handed 
down from father to son, from mother to daughter. The 
parents were the natural teachers of the young, they were 
the centers from which the moral influence radiated, the 
guardians of the family gods, of the tribe's religion and 
honor. 

In the more advanced society of a later period, we find 



io THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

indeed the family organization modeled after essentially the 
same plan ; but the wisdom and higher knowledge of the 
tribe and incipient nation have become concentrated in a sepa- 
rate class, or caste, that of the priesthood. The priests are 
now the spiritual guardians of the people; it is their special 
function to commune with the gods and to mediate between 
them and the nation. From this divine intercourse, by their 
being devoted entirely to the searching into the mysteries of 
nature and human life, they obtain a knowledge which to the 
uninitiated appears truly magical and supernatural. They 
are not only priests, but philosophers, poets, astronomers, 
scientists, physicians, teachers; all the learned professions as 
we know them, were represented in their rudimentary, un- 
differentiated form by this caste which endowed all knowl- 
edge with a spiritual significance — as coming from the gods 
whose agents they were. All knowledge was then a divine 
revelation ; even the arts of husbandry, of metalworking, 
and other crafts, were ascribed to the teachings of gods who 
had come down among men as helpers and teachers. Teach- 
ing was a sacred profession, then, and was essentially con- 
cerned in spiritual matters. 

"Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis". Times 
change, and we change in time. When the old order of 
things gave way to new institutions ; when Greece and Rome 
became masters of the world, and in their turn were de- 
throned by the ascendency of the Teutonic tribes which hold 
sway over the civilized world up to the present day : — science, 
religion and philosophy became more and more democratized, 
and gradually accessible to the masses that had formerly been 
kept in subjection and ignorance. Teaching was now a 
secular profession. But the struggle between the guardians 
of religion and the promoters of secular ideas was long and 
fierce, and is not fought to the end yet. Church and State 
are still at war over the same issue, i. e. to whom the control 
of popular education properly belongs. The secular view 
that education, at least as far as school training is concerned, 
means merely the transmission of information, the imparting 
of so-called knowledge, the training of the intelligence, the 
drill in useful occupations, and that consequently it is a mat- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD n 

ter entirely separate from ethico-religious considerations, is 
certainly a very shallow conception. Knowledge and skill in 
themselves are neutral possessions; they may work good or 
evil in accordance with the character of the one who possesses 
them. It has been truly said that it requires as much me- 
chanical genius and intelligence to pick a lock as to construct 
its intricate mechanism ; and whether your boy will grow up 
to be a prophet or a seducer, will depend not upon what he 
knows, but upon his spiritual nature which will convert his 
knowledge either into a weapon of destruction or into a 
means of inspiration. Wisely administered intellectual train- 
ing will certainly broaden a man's mind and make him ca- 
pable of appreciating the relations which exist in the human 
life and in the life of nature; he will thus be helped to dis- 
criminate better between right and wrong and to choose more 
wisely in perplexing situations: but his actions will in every 
case be determined by the kind of character he has. 

Indeed: teaching is essentially a spiritual thing. All de- 
pends upon the spirit in which information is imparted, upon 
the ideal towards which knowledge is directed; upon the 
educator's power to strengthen the will, to inspire the heart, 
to ennoble the aspirations of his pupil. If education has any 
reference at all to the building up of character — and who 
will undertake to dispute this claim ? — it must have an ethico- 
religious background. In fact, ethics and religion are the 
fountain-heads from which the true teacher will draw his 
strength, and towards which the eyes of the inspired stu- 
dent must turn for invigoration and revelation. 

When the conditions of the religious life were simple and 
elementary; when the life of all individuals was believed 
to be directed by powers which to all serious people re- 
vealed themselves in practically the same form; in other 
words, when the God of the prophet was the God of the 
multitude, when the national life expressed itself spiritually 
in a national religion : — the case was free from complexity. 
Education was then permeated by ideas and ideals which 
all held practically in common. Conscience was then the 
product of universal agreement, so to speak. Nowadays there 
is a perplexing difficulty. The form in which the religious 



12 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

idea manifests itself is no longer a simple and constant 
element; out of universal oneness, of elementary uniformity, 
there has emerged a differentiated organism of which the dif- 
ferent parts live their individual lives. It has become a mat- 
ter of common justice to respect the freedom of the indi- 
vidual, notably in matters of conscience; to recognize that 
each individual is a unit by himself, produced by forces which 
differentiated him from all others, and that the world will 
necessarily picture itself in each one in a form characteristic 
of his special constitution. Thus what was once a national 
church has been split up into a large number of sects and 
sub-sects; and religious notions shade off on one hand into 
creeds which were originally foreign elements, and were im- 
ported subsequent to the closer intercourse of nations; and 
on the other to abstractions of a more or less philosophic char- 
acter. Unfortunately, mistaken fervor which fails to recog- 
nize that all these various groups strive for the same goal, 
believe in the same ideal, and draw their strength from the 
same eternal facts of existence, only in different ways and 
under different symbols, has produced a mutual mistrust and 
enmity between these groups, and education is very much the 
sufferer for it. Even in purely secular matters we are apt 
to be impressed much more by the manner of a thing, than 
by its meaning or essence; a pleasant lie offends us less than 
impetuous frankness. And it is only too true that religious 
fervor is prone to lead to intolerance and fanaticism. Thus 
free thinkers will ridicule orthodox believers as being plainly 
ignorant, and believers will denounce all who do not pro- 
fess a personal god, as necessarily wicked and immoral ; and 
Jews and Christians, Baptists and Methodists, Episcopalians 
and Presbyterians, Catholics and Protestants, are constantly 
branding each other as transgressors and gentiles. 

This very struggle between different religious attitudes has 
led to a still greater secularization of public instruction than 
when there was merely a quarrel between the Church and 
State. For into whose hands can the spiritual guidance of 
our children be entrusted if there is so much uncertainty as to 
what is the true religion ? The public schools have therefore 
in many instances declined all responsibility for the ethico- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 13 

religious training of their pupils, confining themselves to sec- 
ular instruction pure and simple ; on the other hand, numer- 
ous sectarian schools have sprung up, all supplying an educa- 
tion which indeed contains the ethico-religious element, but 
which, by its pronouncedly dogmatic and separatistic char- 
acter, tends to widen the gulf that unhappily gapes between 
different portions of the nation. Denominational schools, 
like all denominational institutions, exhibit the tendency 
inherent in all political and religious systems that have be- 
come institutionally fixed and authoritative, viz. the ten- 
dency of self-perpetuation in place of growth; of acquiring 
and maintaining power instead of recognizing the principle 
of freedom and progressive differentiation. 

The secularization of instruction has, among other things, 
exerted a deplorable influence upon the quality of the teach- 
ing talent. When education was a matter of spiritual con- 
cern, when it was a prerogative of a class which represented 
the most spiritually minded elements of the community, the 
teaching was undertaken with a seriousness of purpose, and 
an equipment of knowledge, as high as the respective stage of 
culture allowed. Teaching was, then, a life-calling. And 
we must not fancy that the priest-teacher of those times was 
not professionally fit for his particular work. There was 
perhaps little, or no, strictly professional training in these 
ecclesiastical times; but teaching was then as now an art; 
what lack of training there was, was largely compensated by 
empiric knowledge of child-nature, by intuitive insight, and 
by recognition of an ethical aim. At an early date, those 
among the priests who showed eminent fitness for the office 
of teacher, were selected for the special function ; and indeed, 
even tho the caste appeared as a unit before the multitude, 
ability and preference soon worked a differentiation of tasks 
among its members. Measuring the teaching done under 
these conditions by the standard of the times, it was cer- 
tainly of a high order, even tho it was of an exclusixe char- 
acter and bestowed upon a favored few. 

When teaching became the business of secular persons who 
did it for hire, the spirit of the work degenerated at once. 
Not that there had not been from Quintilian's time down 



14 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

to our own, many inspired secular teachers whose influence 
was ennobling and far-reaching. But the general trend of 
secular education was utilitarian, and the teachers were re- 
cruited from all walks of life, mostly the lowliest. Secular 
education had a democratic tendency — it embraced wide cir- 
cles and gradually developed the idea of popular education. 
Grand and momentous as this new ideal was, it increased 
the demand for teachers at such a rate that the supply was 
often insufficient. For the so-called people, i. e. common 
people, a minimum of instruction was supposed to be ample, 
which permitted the employment of very ignorant persons 
as teachers; as these were selected, as a rule, by "patrons", 
or boards, rarely representing the highest culture of the 
times, incredible conditions prevailed in many schools of this 
type. These were the days when anyone who was not good 
enough for anything else, was still thought competent to be 
a school-master; if he could wield the rod with satisfactory 
energy, all was well. Cripples and invalids of all kinds, slaves 
or servants, broken-down traders, shepherds and blacksmiths 
were the teachers in the secular elementary schools, or were 
employed in homes as tutors of the young. In higher instruc- 
tion alone students of divinity long held their own and were 
employed in Colleges and High Schools and as private tu- 
tors in wealthy families. But on the whole, the profession, 
if such it can be called, was in a degraded state; it was "low 
business" as it was called even in the earlier days of our 
own glorious republic. Teachers had no social standing at 
all; in compensation and respect they often ranked lower 
than ordinary servants. 

These conditions are not altogether a thing of the past. 
Even nowadays, it is not uncommon for a man to try his 
hand at teaching after he has failed in everything else; and 
the scholarship and professional training of teachers is not 
generally high. A French, German, or Italian immigrant, if 
he does not readily find employment will set himself up as 
a "professor" of languages or music, or what not, suppos- 
ing to have a perfect right to do so. Many people entertain 
the idea that all that is necessary for being able to teach a sub- 
ject is to know it; the fallacy of this notion it is not easy 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 15 

to demonstrate to one who is ignorant of the psychological 
laws that govern the workings of the human mind. But the 
conditions would not be half so sad as they are if these pro- 
fessed teachers really did know what they undertake to teach ; 
yet instances are only too numerous when a very little knowl- 
edge is puffed up in a very delusive semblance of proficiency. 
Teaching has as yet become a profession with a very few; 
most teachers found employed in many of our schools are 
either young men who use their position in a public school 
as a stepping stone to "something better", or young girls who 
want to fill the interval between their own school days and 
the blessings of married life with some sort of respectable oc- 
cupation — and school teaching has at last gained recognition 
as a respectable occupation. The case of these young girls 
is perhaps not the worst feature of the general situation, by 
any means; they gain in this way an experience which may 
stand them in good stead when they have children of their 
own. It has become a growing conviction among progres- 
sive educators that Frobel was right when he suggested that 
every young woman should be given a chance to study and 
handle children as a preparation for motherhood. The only 
difficulty is this that most of our young teachers enter upon 
their work without real preparation for it; they have little 
understanding of it, they have likewise little love for it. With 
them it is a daily mechanism, the veriest routine; and there 
is danger that they will carry the superficial notion of child- 
life and education which governs their work in school, into 
their later life of maternal functions. And if we may judge 
the public valuation of the teacher's services by what they 
are "worth" to the school boards in dollars and cents, their 
social standing is still very mediocre; few receive a salary 
that makes them financially independent, or even free from 
care or that can compare with the wages paid to clerks, cooks, 
and other such worthies whose responsibilities are vastly in- 
ferior. 

However, if we survey the whole field of public instruc- 
tion, we may congratulate ourselves upon the great change 
that has taken place during the last century. Ever since the 
days of Rousseau and Pestalozzi, there has been gradually 



1 6 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

evolved a higher conception of the office of the teacher. Both 
these great minds recognized the need of a better understand- 
ing of the child-soul before we can administer to its wants. 
It was the dawn of a child-psychology that was destined to 
revolutionize education. Herbart and Frobel were the 
apostles of this new gospel, and whatever is good in modern 
developments can be traced back to suggestions from these 
two great teachers, erroneous as some of their philosophical 
premises were. All at once the child became the center of 
interest, and teaching assumed a new significance. The great 
movement of child-study has stirred up the minds of 
educators especially in our own country and in Germany, and 
has resulted in the beginning of a new pedagogy 
based upon the careful study of the object of education, the 
child, a pedagogy which is at once a science and an art: — 
it has served to spiritualize the work which has so long been 
under the bane of a one-sided secularism. The teacher, from 
the new point of view, is not merely a lesson-giver, a me- 
chanical contrivance for the pouring in of information; he 
is not the child's jailor, and the arch-enemy of all the child's 
natural impulses and instincts : he is his friend and counselor, 
loving him and studying him; his spiritual helper and, per- 
chance, his assistant physician, his servant and his ideal — in 
one word : his educator. Child-psychology has brought to 
light with scientific accuracy the fact that it is idle to under- 
take intellectual instruction without influencing the moral 
faculties; that no absorption and normal assimilation of 
instructive matter is possible without due attention to the 
training of the will ; that intellectual training of the whole- 
some kind is identical with will training, and that all we do 
with the child will be somehow reflected in his moral and 
religious character. All the forces that make up the child's 
environment are of educational import and will influence his 
fortune in after life. Secular education as it has been under- 
stood is an illusion, an impossibility; all education is in its 
very essence spiritual education, for good or evil. Where the 
spiritual element is neglected, education will be a dismal 
failure ; it will not be simply negative or neutral in its effect, 
but will tend to corrupt, or at least confuse, he moral char- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 17 

acter of the child. 

Thus the profession of the teacher assumes a new dignity. 
He is again, as of old, recognized to be a spiritual power, 
and comes next to the parent in direct and telling influence 
upon the future and character of the child. His is an almost 
priestly function inasmuch as the young soul is given into 
his keeping; and since it has been demonstrated that psycho- 
logical development is bound up with physiological conditions 
of health and disease, he will have to assume at certain junc- 
tures some of the duties which are professionally assigned to 
the consulting physician. In his person, he will therefore rep- 
resent a combination of functions which in a measure re- 
vives that ancient order from which the special functions of 
the teacher has become disintegrated. As he will have 
to be in close touch with the ethical and religious life of the 
community as represented by the progress in church and 
philosophy, so as to develop and refine his own religious life; 
further with the medical profession whose assistance he will 
need daily in solving the educational problems which individ- 
ual children will present to him ; and finally with the progress 
of science in general which he is to mediate to young minds 
in his charge : he will be instrumental in bringing about a new 
brotherhood and community of spiritual interests — a commu- 
nity which will differ from the ancient caste-organization of 
patriarchal times mainly in this that it will be based upon 
freedom of conscience and the spirit of progress and mutual 
tolerance and helpfulness. 

This new dignity entails a new responsibility, indeed one 
so vast that none of us will ever be able to attain the ideal. 
"But no end can arouse enthusiasm if complete attainment 
be possible" (Prof. Geo. H. Palmer). The teacher must 
stake his whole life, spiritually, on his work ; he must sanctify 
his entire personality and sacrifice it to the sacred duties 
which he assumes. 

The teacher is the school. It is not the course of studies, 
nor the "methods" employed, upon which the success of 
school education depends ; but the principles which the teach- 
er lives, the spirit which imbues him, the character and per- 
sonality of him thru whose agency the abstract facts of knowl- 



1 8 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

edge become living realities and moral forces to the children. 

Not every scholar is necessarily a teacher, but every teacher 
must be a scholar. Not in the sense that he be an expert in 
any one science or a number of sciences. But he must pos- 
sess the scientific spirit; the spirit of research and progres- 
siveness, and that genuine scholarship which is not so much 
concerned in the accumulation of a vast number of facts as 
in the intelligent use of those which are at hand. The teacher 
must be an investigator and aspire to larger knowledge, such 
as will expand his own personality and widen the horizon of 
his interests. He must not know just enough to teach and 
not be found out by his pupils — but must personate to them, 
not an infallible oracle by any means, but the incorruptible 
dignity, the broad interests and salutary influences of true 
science, even tho it be in a modest way. The teacher's inter- 
est ought not to be confined to the four walls of his school 
room lest he become narrow and self-complacent, and petty 
and nagging. He must live the larger life, and concern him- 
self in the great problems of his age, so that he may keep 
steadily before him the great aim of all educational effort, 
viz. to fit the children to carry the banner of civilization to 
still loftier heights, that "banner with the strange device 
'Excelsior!'" 

The true teacher will cherish motives in his bosom so as 
to awaken high motives in the breasts of the young. Too 
much is our present life given to emulation ; it is not excel- 
lence we strive after, but the ability to excel, to surpass, to 
outstrip others. Our age is one of merciless competition, and 
our ordinary school practice, by a seductive system of marks, 
reports, and prizes, arouses and stimulates this unhappy ten- 
dency in our young children. "The larger part of the pu- 
pils leave the school with no higher aim than to outstrip 
their neighbors, not to help them, in the pursuit of the com- 
forts and luxuries of life." (A. Caswell Ellis, in the "Ped- 
agogical Seminary", Oct., 1897). Here is the teacher's op- 
portunity. If he has the high motive, if he is not swayed by 
sordid considerations, petty jealousies and emulative ambi- 
tions ; if he has the unselfish heart, if he loves his neighbor as 
he does himself : then will he inspire his pupils with the force 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 19 

of his noble example. 

The main factor of the ethical influence of the school is 
certainly the teacher. "There are teachers, and there are 
others who falsely enter that holy office. . . . There are 
teachers in whose very presence is delight. The child feels 
the inspiration of a great life and is influenced accordingly. 
Such a teacher is an effective apostle of a better living, and 
gives an uplift and an impulse to the students' life that can- 
not be measured this side of eternity." (Preston W. Search, 
in "The Ethics of the Public Schools". Educational Re- 
view, Feb., 1896). 

It is not so much a matter of what ideals a teacher teaches, 
as of what ideals are in his own heart. These ideals will in- 
fluence his entire manner. There must be absolute fairness and 
self-control, unfailing cheerfulness and sympathy, a readiness 
to appreciate the pupil's side of the problem and to forget his 
own ; a loving interest in the individual needs of each child, 
a wise discernment of causes and effects, physical, moral and 
intellectual; a tactful attitude towards the parents whose 
co-operation must be secured, the influences of heredity and 
environment having been discreetly studied ; a ready heart 
and a willing hand to help the most forlorn and abandoned 
little soul and neglected body even more promptly than the 
dainty child of wealth and winning manners. "Come unto 
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you 
rest". We must be meek and lowly and glorify ourselves 
by service. 

In a stirring lecture before the Brookline Educational So- 
ciety, Professor Geo. H. Palmer expressed these beautiful 
thoughts: "The great characteristic of teaching, and one that 
is too often overlooked, is that in the teacher we must expect 
a readiness for vicariousness. We must take up a double- 
ended life; we must see not only where truth arises, but 
where it penetrates. ... A teacher cannot live his own 
life, but must live the lives of others — many others, and all 
different. He must take on conditions not his own, and look 
at things from another's standpoint. He must lead the stu- 
dent on, step by step, and then must be continually retreat- 
ing to the first standpoint and first principles." 



20 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

We must perhaps not take it literally when he says a teach- 
er cannot live his own life. Unless a teacher has freedom to 
be himself, to live up to the best that is in him, to live his 
own individual life, he cannot understand the lives of oth- 
ers. Truly by "taking on conditions not his own", he will 
expand his own individuality, and his must be the capacity 
to be truly happy only when living with and for children. 
Well does Prof. Palmer say: "The teacher puts himself in- 
side of the young lives ; many times he lives the lives of all ; 
he is among you as one who serves. . . . We must bear 
the child's burdens vicariously, we must study out the line of 
the least intellectual resistance; must spend days in discover- 
ing where the burden can be rolled away. Knowledge buffets 
the child ; we must aid it in penetrating the young mind with 
the least friction. All this we must do, not for our own sake, 
but for the sake of the children. We must love to do it, and 
unless we do, it is no profession for us." 

It has been said before in this chapter that the 
teacher should have larger interests outside of the school- 
room. Then, reference was made principally to the expan- 
sion of the teacher's own personality. But there is another 
side to this suggestion. The fuller conception of education 
recognizes the fact that the teacher is only one of many fac- 
tors that determine the future character of the rising gener- 
ation. He is one of the most effective to be sure; but the 
more or less silent influences of the general environment of 
the child, at home, in the public thorofares and conveyances, 
in places of amusement and recreation, must not be under- 
estimated in their distinct significance. This environment 
comprises the city where the child lives, the state to which this 
belongs, the native country, and in a larger sense the civilized 
portion of our globe of which the immediate school location 
is but a small and perhaps insignificant part. Remote as 
some of these influences may seem, they are no less real and 
determinative. The institutions of the immediate com- 
munity, the politics of the state, the ethical conscience 
of the nation as expressed in its public opinion and family life 
no less than in national problems of finance and foreign rela- 
tions; the general trend of thought which shapes the world's 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 21 

destiny: all these elements affect very notably the conditions 
under which our children grow up, and they will be reflected 
in their lives. The broad-minded teacher will have an active 
interest in all that pertains to these common human affairs. 
He is himself a social factor of no mean importance and 
should make himself felt as such. "I perceive," says Walter 
Channing, "the idea gaining ground that true education 
means a correlation of all educative forces, both of the home 
and the school, supplementing each other and working har- 
moniously together". 

The conscientious teacher will endeavor to bring about an 
intelligent co-operation of school and home, first of all. He 
will everywhere and under all circumstances stand up pub- 
licly for the cause of a rational education. In the rural dis- 
tricts whose school problem is particularly perplexing, he will 
be a missionary, an educational center from which may 
radiate impulses of enlightment and progress, inspirations 
for a higher life. There should be as many such radiating 
centers as there are school districts. In the city the teacher 
will be interested in the cleanliness and decency of streets, 
highways, cars, etc. ; he will propagate the idea of public play- 
grounds ; he will be an ardent auxiliary to the social reformer 
in the cause of uplifting the conditions of the poor and mis- 
erable, as to better homes, better food, better wages for the 
laboring man so that his children be not cheated out of their 
birthright; he will be active in all endeavors to elevate the 
moral tone of the community. He will be one of the factors 
that shape public opinion. He will be a worker along phil- 
anthropic and religious lines of activity — not with narrow 
denominational fanaticism, but with the enlightened zeal of 
the true humanitarian. He will be an energetic politician, 
not in the spirit of selfish partisanship, but with a view of 
leading the commonwealth of which he is a member, on to 
the realization of loftier social and political ideas than are 
embodied in it at the time being. 

Great problems are agitating men's minds now, and strug- 
gle for solution; the generations of the twentieth century 
will have a purer religion, a juster social order, a more per- 
fect political government, it is to be hoped, than we have. 



22 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

What all these changes will imply, who can tell? Theories 
and systems have been advanced by many among us, but the 
new order of the future will necessarily shape itself in accord- 
ance with eternal laws of growth, and the outcome can be 
only dimly divined by living men. We can, however, as 
teachers, help to make the happier and better mankind of 
coming days ; they who are now children will be the builders 
of that future. Let us do our share that they may see with 
clearer vision than we can, that they aspire to noble aims, 
that they may think their own thoughts, that they be touched 
in their innermost hearts by the sense of the responsibility 
that awaits them; that they be free from cant, prejudice and 
narrowness, that they may divine the eternal in contrast to 
their own finite existence, that they will recognize the spirit- 
ual forces which rule the world. Reform is not so much a 
matter of laws and government; it is the outcome of a spir- 
itual ethical regeneration. The problems of today are edu- 
cational problems in their very essence. This means indeed 
a new conception of the teacher's functions, and a reversal 
of common methods of education. "The utilitarian and 
money-getting, so called 'practical' side of life," says A. Cas- 
well Ellis in his "Philosophy of Education" ("Pedagogical 
Seminary," Oct., 1897) "must be balanced off by giving in 
the schools a deeper appreciation of those spiritual elements 
in man's nature which alone distinguish him from the brutes. 
They must feel that there are inexhaustible stores for the 
human soul far beyond mere worldly goods or intellectual 
possessions, and that this truer wealth can be shared by every 
one to his full capacity without limiting the supply to his 
neighbor, that of this wealth it may be truly said that he who 
scattereth abroad increaseth. The full breadth and depth of 
the human soul must be better touched by our educational 
efforts, and the abnormal amount of attention given to the 
logical, intellectual faculties be balanced by a more sane 
development of those no less human and God-given powers 
which so potently affect life and character, and whose proper 
development alone can make the sane and wholesome life. 
In a word, full unity and balance of the human soul should 
be maintained and the whole man educated." 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 23 

This is the spiritual regeneration of which the teacher is 
largely the representative and agent. It has been said before 
that in the teacher there is re-established the union of those 
spiritual forces which were integrated in the ecclesiastical 
caste of ancient times. This thought may be put into another 
form : it is thru the educational idea, thru the conception of 
human progress as an educational process, that a new unifi- 
cation of spiritual efforts can be effected. The physician is 
then no longer a mere administerer of drugs and medicines, 
but the teacher and apostle of the healthy and vigorous life. 
The priest is no longer a savage shaman or exorcist, or denom- 
inational fanatic, but a mediator between man's secular and 
spiritual natures, a teacher of the higher life, irrespective of 
separative creeds. Science and philosophy have ceased to be 
magic and idle speculation; they have attained significance 
as bearing directly upon the life conditions of our race, and 
upon a truer conception of the divine universe. All these 
professions are educative forces; education is the new focus 
in which these various activities center. Thus a new brother- 
hood of spiritual potencies is forming on a broader basis along 
lines of greater freedom and more vigorous growth and effec- 
tiveness. There is no longer a community of creed ; you 
and I may conceive of the powers that govern the universe 
and make for righteousness, in very different ways, and call 
them by different names. But let there be a community of 
spirit; an honest seeking after truth; let there be a unity of 
effort, of deed, if not of creed. Let us all grasp hands and 
unite our forces in the service of humanity. For such is the 
new dignity and the new responsibility of the teacher's pro- 
fession. 



CHAPTER II 

The Significance of the Kindergarten and its Rational 
Development 

THE new education, as the progressive educational 
movement of our times has been called, took its 
origin in Pestalozzi's seemingly impractical enter- 
prise in Switzerland. Pestalozzi died imagining 
that his life-efforts had been a failure; yet his 
ideas have fertilized the barren field of pre-revolutionary edu- 
cation and have made it bring forth an abundant harvest. It 
was, however, due to the intuitive mind of Frobel to divine 
the needs of childhood in their fullness, and to give a definite 
shape to the new educational ideas so as to serve as a working 
system for the practice of early education. 

Herbart, the German philosopher; Spencer, the English 
thinker, and the later child study movement, with a host of 
other influences, have given an enormous impetus to progres- 
sive activity, and we have now a very different conception 
of the meaning of education from what it had been at the 
time of our fathers. But the Frobelian Kindergarten is the 
only division of the school system at the present time which 
is altogether based upon definitely framed and widely recog- 
nized principles, and the practice of which has been worked 
out in satisfactory detail so that it may be at once intro- 
duced and permanently established. This cannot yet be 
claimed for the more recent reform ideas which are destined, 
let us hope, to revise our entire educational system. 

It must further be admitted that many of these later prin- 
ciples have been directly derived from the experiences of the 
kindergarten. Thru these latter the child was re-discovered, 

24 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 25 

as it were, by educators; the child became the center of 
pedagogical thought and interest, and the right relation and 
proportion of educational forces became recognized. 

The kindergarten, then, has been truly the pioneer of pro- 
gressive educational methods. Following the introduction of 
kindergartens in our school systems, there came a new awak- 
ening of teachers and parents to the real meaning and im- 
port of education. This introduction signified a powerful 
reaction against formal teaching, routine methods, mere book 
learning, and undue forcing of the child. It is curious to 
note how the kindergarten has everywhere served as a wedge 
for opening a point of vantage where the new forces could 
enter. This process was not always a conscious one on the 
part of its promoters, but it was ever sure of success, altho oc- 
casionally slow and patience-trying. It is an interesting fact 
to be recorded that our first efforts to reclaim Cuba from 
the desolation and ruination in which Spanish misrule and 
internal strife had left the Pearl of the Antilles, included 
the sending of educational missionaries for the reorganization 
of the schools, and that the kindergartners were the advance 
guard of this army of peaceful conquest. Thru the kinder- 
garten the little waifs of the Reconcentrados were being won 
over to civilization and prosperity: it preaches the gospel of 
good will to man, of freedom, and of happiness. So it did 
in the Philippine Islands. 

Thus, the kindergarten is a missionary of Teutonic civi- 
lization in far-off India, the dreamland of the Brahmans, 
where now Eastern and Western methods of culture are com- 
ing into close contact. Under the direction of the Swami 
Vivekananda who was India's representative at the World's 
Congress of Religions at Chicago in 1893, a Miss Noble, an 
English girl, opened the first kindergarten for Hindoo chil- 
dren some years ago. 

New as the kindergarten seems to be, it is in reality an 
old ideal revived by the educational renaissance of the xixth 
century. The great Amos Comenius who was born in 1592, 
did not only anticipate the modern psychological methods of 
concrete and constructive teaching, but he even outlined an 
Infants' or Mothers' School which corresponded broadly to 



26 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

what we now call the kindergarten. He maintained that in 
this Infants' school the child must be taught the elements of 
everything necessary to the building up of the life of man, 
including the rudiments of nature-knowledge, history, 
language, etc. His phraseology appears at times strange to 
us, but he means essentially the same thing which we mean, 
altho naturally his psychology was rudimentary. He even 
compares the school to a garden, and in his "Schola Ludus" 
(The School as Play) he revives the ancient Roman concep- 
tion of the school as "schola", viz. leisure, pastime — or rather 
an opportunity for culture thru the free play of our facul- 
ties where the mind is not weighed down by professional and 
routine duties. 

Why, then, is the kindergarten called a "kindergarten", a 
children's garden? Poetically inclined minds have likened 
the children to plants and flowers, and to them the kinder- 
garten is that wonderful place where children are reared and 
cherished as a gardener cherishes his roses and violets. This 
metaphor is not without significance, for we may well learn 
from the plants the lesson of natural growth, nourishment, 
care, and sunshine, and apply it to the bringing up of our 
little ones. Even their growth must be carefully guarded, 
and their minds and bodies properly fed so that they may 
mature in due time, and not sicken and degenerate; and into 
their young hearts must shine the sunshine of love and cheer- 
fulness to make them thrive and grow strong. 

But Frobel's idea of the kindergarten was rather that it 
should be a garden for children — a place where there was 
freedom from the restraint of conventional life ; where there 
was pure air and abundant light, healthy exercises and inspir- 
ing observation, play, and joyfulness, and common with na- 
ture, direct and spontaneous. 

This was in itself a new departure. It rescued the chil- 
dren from the pedantic tasks of the traditional school. The 
four walls of the narrow schoolroom with its overcrowded 
floor space, its stuffy air, its cheerless routine, were a verita- 
ble prison for the young soul whose longings were for that 
outer world of beauty and activity, of freedom and frag- 
rance from which it was now shut out. The kindergarten 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 27 

meant a re-establishment of natural conditions, at least in 
principle. For the ordinary city child, even the nursery is 
devoid of those charms and of that healthy atmosphere which 
the child needs for his normal development — it means confine- 
ment, restraint, lack of oxygen and of experience. 

For this reason it has been maintained that the genuine 
kindergarten should not be merely a room or hall set aside 
and fitted up for games and occupations, but a real garden, 
or open air space, where the children might run about and 
play and see plants, even planting them, taking care of them, 
etc. In the kindergartens maintained by the "Kindergarten- 
verein" in my native city of Breslau (there are no public 
kindergartens in Germany), the children are kept indoors 
only in inclement weather; otherwise they play in the open, 
and benches and tables are provided under a shed where they 
devote themselves to the quiet occupations. At the Pesta- 
lozzi-Frobel-Haus in Berlin, there is a real flower and vege- 
table garden for the use of children where they dig and plant 
and water and harvest. Here is the first stage of the develop- 
ment of school gardens whose importance for nature study 
and elementary agriculture cannot be overestimated. 

This arrangement is particularly helpful in familiariz- 
ing our young children with their natural environment. True, 
conscientious teachers are ever endeavoring to bring Nature 
to the children by way of detached pieces from her vast 
store of creations. It is best, however, to take the children 
out to Nature whenever possible, and to transplant many of 
the lessons under the vast dome of the sky which is usually 
shut out from the child's consciousness by the low ceiling of 
the schoolroom. Let us substitute for some of the symbols of 
the ordinary school course, the realities abounding around us. 
This would correspond to Frobel's principle of internal- 
izing the external, that is of converting the world of reality 
outside of us into a system of sensations, precepts, and con- 
cepts which makes it our own world. The world of objects 
thus becomes a world of experiences and of mental images, 
upon which our mental life depends. Doing this, the chil- 
dren's organs of perception, their senses, are trained to receive 
correct impressions and to be capable of exact observation. 



28 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

How necessary such training is, those will know who have 
had occasion to test the ideas of young children whose early 
experiences had been deficient; the perusal of Dr. Stanley 
Hall's now famous monograph on "The Contents of Chil- 
dren's Minds on Entering School" (New York, E. L. Kel- 
logg & Co., 1893) will also be very instructive. Cf. also 
"Vorstellungskreis der Berliner Kinder beim Eintritt in die 
Schule." Berliner Stadtisches Jahrbuch 1870. 

A pathetic story was told by the principal of the kindergar- 
ten department of the Ethical Culture Schools. It was the 
custom to send the little ones to Central Park for games and 
nature work whenever possible. One day a new child from 
a down-town district was among them, and when the chil- 
dren were invited to play on the lawn, the little waif cried 
and could be induced to step upon the grass only after much 
effort. It apparently regarded the green surface as dangerous 
to tread upon; the warning in the down-town parks, "Keep 
off the Grass!" had played havoc with its young mind. 

Quaint sayings and doings are reported of the children who 
attend the Vacation schools, particularly when the children 
are taken to the country; they are a source of delight to the 
directors and teachers of the schools. Many of the children 
have never been on a street car, a train or a boat, and the com- 
monest sights of country life are wonders to them. Here are 
a few of the funny things that happened: 

In the Chicago Vacation Schools an early trip was to Lin- 
coln Park. One of the boys, seeing a chicken asked : "Teach- 
er, wot's dat t'ing?" "That's a chicken. Its the — " "Wot 
yer givin' me? Dat ain't no chicken. It's got fedders on. 
I know a chicken, I guess. My ma she had a chicken onct 
for dinner, 'n' and it didn't hev nut'in on but skin." This 
same ignorance, or unacquaintance with the manifold nature 
of their environment is displayed in reference to other ob- 
jects. 

"There goes a fu-ne-ral! There goes a fu-ne-ral!" sang 
out a little girl as she waited in the door of a railway sta- 
tion. She saw the cab passing. "Somebody's daid! There 
goes a kerridge!" Her only ideas of cabs and carriages were 
connected with death and she could hardly be made to under- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 29 

stand that they were pleasure vehicles as well. 

These facts teach a tremendous lesson. They show how 
essential it is to give the child a well-rounded experience of 
every day facts. We take too much for granted. In differ- 
ent environments, children's misunderstandings will, of 
course, be found along different lines; we must, however, 
be on our guard against them everywhere. 

Here the significance of the true kindergarten is evident. 
It helps the child to gain true and clear concepts, thru sense 
training, and thus to develop his inner life. 

The counterpart of the Frobelian principle mentioned be- 
fore, viz., of internalizing the external, is the opposite prin- 
ciple of externalizing the internal. In other words there are 
forces in the child's soul constantly striving for expression. 
Indeed, if man were but receptive, he were not man. What 
makes life LIFE, is activity — such an activity as corresponds 
to our individual character, which is an expression of our na- 
ture and being. Without activity, we were to all intents and 
purposes as good as dead. True, even the ordinary school 
affords opportunities for self-expression in the various 
branches of school work. But this opportunity is often based 
upon an adult standard and upon adult methods, apart from 
the fact that it deals largely with symbols of things, instead 
of with realities. It is the great service of the kindergarten 
that it has recognized the demand that a child must be meas- 
ured by a standard of his own, and that the young child needs 
opportunity for concrete expression — for muscular activity. 
The various occupations of the kindergarten have been de- 
vised to meet this need. And they partake of the nature of 
play j in this manner corresponding to a natural instinct which 
deserves much more recognition in the school curriculum 
than is usually accorded to it. In this sense the gifts and occu- 
pations answer practically the same purpose ; and while they 
are in the nature of expressive work, thru building, weaving, 
modeling, etc., they also serve the reverse purpose of medi- 
ating innumerable experiences as to material, form, color, 
tools, etc., which in their turn complete the internalizing of 
the external. Thus there is mutuality of effort and effect; 
impressions strive for expression, and expression converts it- 



30 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

self fnto experience. 

Said Mrs. Kraus-Bolte, a veteran of the kindergarten in 
this country, "Play thus rightly understood, proves itself a 
means of assisting the inner growth of the child, independent 
of formal instruction. Self-seeing, self-hearing, self-making, 
self -experience, self-thinking — these are the activities of the 
child, and rightly developed, they are associated with happi- 
ness, gayety and joyousness." 

Again, in their representative, or if you will, dramatic, 
games, the children are introduced to the various typical oc- 
cupations of man, and learn to appreciate the part each indi- 
vidual pursuit plays in the network of human civilization and 
service. The games of the shoemaker, of the blacksmith and 
others, never fail to arouse the children's interest and 
to satisfy their natural imitativeness of adult ways. Chil- 
dren of this age want to be and do all they see their elders 
be and do. It is well to take advantage of this natural in- 
stinct so as to widen the child's circle of experience. 

Other games are intended, not so much to dramatize hu- 
man existence, as to symbolize the life of nature. These 
rarely fail to personify the forces of nature, and so to estab- 
lish a personal, sympathetic relation between the child and 
the so-called dumb creation. When this method is not viti- 
ated by over-sentimentalism, it corresponds with a natural 
instinct. Thus, the rain comes down to the great brown 
house where the flowers dwell; or the alder by the river 
shakes out her powd'ry curls; the pretty little violets are 
waking from their sleep; the child asks of pussy-willow, the 
pretty little thing, where it is it comes from, how it is it 
grows ; he sympathizes with the chilly little chickadees buried 
in the snow; and after an imaginary walk thru field and 
lane, the little boy runs home to mama to tell her: I saw so 
many things! 

While all these plays serve to stimulate observa- 
tion and to arouse the sense of consanguinity of man with 
all things alive; while further they are of inestimable value 
for the awakening of moral feelings in these young hearts — 
they have also quite another significance. There is a deeper 
cause for the pleasure the child takes in this immediate com- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 31 

munion with nature, in identifying himself with animals and 
flowers. I quote from the study of Profs. Hall and Allin 
on "The Psychology of Tickling, Laughing, and of the Com- 
ic" (American Journal of Psychology ix., 1) as follows to 
illustrates this point: "The antics of animals are a source of 
great amusement to children. They pull down the corners 
of the eyes and pull the mouth open, put their hands to their 
ears, crawl like snakes, root like pigs, fly like birds, swim like 
fish, catch and devour prey, make faces, wear animal masks, 
form shadow pictures, watch animals and laugh at and per- 
haps imitate their every movement, personate trick animals. 

. . . Some children desired to be, and others thought 
they were becoming some favorite animal. They play that 
they have claws, trunks, tails, tusks, big teeth and eyes, drink 
or sleep, walk, play, like animals. Games that involve catch- 
ing or grabbing are often very mimetic of animals, and are 
always hilarious. The element of suddenness, too, often 
intensifies this factor. The wearing of animal masks of 
great variety has always been a source of great pleasure for 
children, and even plays a very important part in the games 
and ceremonials of the Chinese, most European folk-lore and 
amusements, in mediaeval revels, and in savage dances. Pin- 
ning on tales, ears, horns, feathers, mane, wings, going on all 
fours, enacting the animal poses that have come down to us 
from the middle ages and from remote antiquity, with the aid 
of these accoutrements suggest . . . that children must 
approximate the animal consciousness by these devices. On 
the other hand, the long struggle of man with the other ani- 
mals for survival and supremacy, the history of domestication, 
the folk-lore and religion of totemism show us what a role 
animals have played in human fear, reverence, and even love 
in the past." 

This reflection shows that the child of kindergarten age 
represents a particular stage in mental development, one 
which cannot be immediately compared with the adult stage, 
but which, broadly speaking, corresponds to an epoch in the 
history of civilization when our race was yet just beginning 
to be humanized, i. e. differentiated from the lower crea- 
tion. The kindergarten child exhibits the instincts and facul- 



32 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

ties characteristic of the dawn of civilization. He is, so to 
speak, yet half way between animal and man, or if you will, 
in his mental disposition savage-like, which does not neces- 
sarily mean that he is savagely vicious. We must use the 
term savage without reproach — merely to indicate an unde- 
veloped state of mind. There will be further occasion, in 
later chapters of this volume, to dwell on this point, which 
is fundamental in an intelligent dealing with children. 

It is due to the kindergarten that this condition has been 
recognized in the work of the school, at least as far as the 
p re-elementary child is concerned. This alone is a far-reach- 
ing reform. It is thru the kindergarten that we have been 
awakened to a sense of the tremendous opportunities which 
are offered to the educator in these tender years of the child 
which previously were regarded as more or less useless, so 
that parents and teachers co-operated to abbreviate them as 
much as possible and to drive the child headlong towards 
precocious development. Now we know that these are the 
most precious years in the life of the child, and that upon 
their successful turning to account depends the future health 
and maturity of body and mind. 

It is instructive to read what former Indian Commissioner 
Jones said in one of his reports: "It is sometimes stated in 
the public prints and by those who should be better informed, 
that the present method of educating the Indian is a failure, 
because, as set forth, the pupils after receiving the advantages 
of a government schooling, and living for years in its moral 
associations, return home and take up the blanket and breech 
clout, and relapse into the customs and manners of their 
parents. This is true in some cases, but on the other hand, 
many of these children enter into agricultural pursuits and 
take up trades, and become an important adjunct in the work 
of civilizing their brethren. 

"The hope of the Indian race lies in taking the child at 
the tender age of 4 or 5 years, before the trend of his mind 
becomes fixed in ancient moulds or bent by whims of his 
parents, and guiding it into the proper channel. Children 
who have thus early been placed under the influence of the 
school show a percentage of success equal to, or greater than 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 33 

that which attends the public schools of any great nation of 
the world which draws its material from the slums. A 
greater percentage of the latter sink back into the degrada- 
tion of their parents and revert to the life from which they 
were taken, than do the Indian boys and girls who have re- 
ceived proper training in the Indian schools". 

There is another aspect of this evolution of the child from 
the savage state to one of maturity. By the undeveloped 
mind, the relation of cause and effect is but dimly recog- 
nized. Imaginary causes are substituted for real causes, and 
a mere semblance becomes the symbol of reality. Thus the 
kindergarten child lives in a symbolical world where every- 
thing has strange meanings and may be converted, in a mo- 
ment, into some other thing, or be endowed with mysterious 
powers. 

An application of this fact of evolution may be made, 
briefly, upon the religious training of the young child. It 
has become customary in many places to make the kinder- 
garten contributary to the Sunday school as it were, by trying 
to inculcate the lofty ideals of a refined religion in the young 
soul. If we remember that the kindergarten child has prac- 
tically the instincts and the reasoning power of a barbarian, 
that he is steeped in nature worship, animalism, and fetichism, 
we shall realize that these attempts must necessarily end 
disastrously and produce, instead of a wholesome sense of 
reverence, rather a grotesque caricature of religion. Particu- 
larly, such ideas as the omnipresence, omnipotence, and om- 
niscience of God are far beyond the grasp of young children. 
Many instructive investigations have been made in this direc- 
tion years ago. (Cf. Sully, "The Child's Religious Ideas and 
Religious Teaching", Pop. Science Monthly, Jan., 1895. — 
Barnes, "Theological Life of a California Child," Pedagog- 
ical Seminary, Dec, 1893. — "Notes on the Theological De- 
velopment of a Child," Arena, Feb., 1898, Crisman. — "Re- 
ligious Periods in Child Growth", Educ. Review, June, 1898, 
and many others.) Here is a little story which may be 
considered significant: A little Pennsylvanian was sitting 
on the floor playing with his blocks. Presently he looked 
up at his mother and asked: "Ma, can God see every- 



34 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

thing?" "Everything, Harry." He returned to his blocks 
again, but evidently did not drop the subject from his 
thoughts for he soon asked: "Can he see the back of his own 
neck?" (Reported in the Child Study Monthly.) 

Can it be assumed that conceptions and reasonings such 
as this are conducive to genuine religiosity? 

There are other fundamental principles of early educa- 
tion which have received their first comprehensive and sys- 
tematic recognition in and thru the kindergarten. 

There is music which does not only add so much to the 
cheerfulness of the kindergarten, but which, in its rhythmical 
movement, corresponds to a deep-rooted want of the youthful 
soul and body. Life is in its very essence rhythmical, and 
whatever chimes with this rhythm or stimulates it, will 
necessarily enhance the sense of life, its vigor, and functional 
intensity. And by way of the sweet strain of song, the 
beauty of harmony and measure is awakened in the child, his 
soul is being uplifted to nobler aspirations, his activity is de- 
veloped to be a power for good — to let him be a builder of 
ideals. Music's effect upon the child — as well as upon grown 
men and women — is truly magical, and is being more and 
more recognized as an educational force. 

And then there is the story. The child, as well as primi- 
tive man, revels in stories which appeal to his imagination 
and stimulate thought and action. In the myths and fairy 
tales, the child is initiated to a primitive world conception 
which is as typical and simple, as it is grand and poetic, and 
which corresponds closely to his own understanding of the 
forces manifesting themselves to his experience. This is per- 
haps a safer way toward the awakening of true religious feel- 
ings than attempting to cast their immature minds at once in 
the modern religious mould. 

Further, there is little that appeals more to the child than 
genuine poetry — not made up rhymes and ditties so much 
as genuine poetry, such as is eternal, typical, great, coming 
from master minds of our race, whose intuitive understand- 
ing of the fundamental truths and cravings have enabled 
them to touch adult and babe alike with the divine spark. 
And again, poetry that is epic rather than reflective, that deals 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 35 

with doings rather than with sentiments. For the child is 
supremely interested in action and has very little patience 
or understanding for fine emotions. He may feel them but 
he cannot analyze them or reflect upon them. Poetical form 
also satisfies the rhythmic tendency and lends itself gracefully 
to musical treatment. Music was perhaps the first art of our 
race, and poetry its first literature. 

The kindergarten age is the language-making age of the 
child's life. He learns language readily by imitation, by ab- 
sorption, by instinct. This age repeats the epoch in the his- 
tory of man when he emerged from primitive barbarism and 
made civilization possible by the creation of speech. It is a 
pity that the language-making instinct of the young child is 
as yet utilized to so small an extent. In the kindergarten 
the child could easily acquire oral facility in speaking one 
or several languages in addition to his mother tongue, as is 
practically illustrated in some foreign countries. Even if 
this training were not followed up in the succeeding grades, 
various beneficiary results can be obtained in this manner. 
The speech centers of the child would receive a most help- 
ful stimulus for variegated and more comprehensive de- 
velopment such as cannot be got from the one-sided ex- 
perience of the mother tongue only. And what was once 
gained will never be entirely lost. Whenever the child 
should later take up anew a foreign language, there will be 
deep down in the recesses of his brain latent associations 
which will awaken under the new impulses and the child 
will profit from the stimulus applied to the language-making 
faculty at its budding time. 

Further, there is a methodical element of vital importance 
which has first been recognized and organically developed 
in the kindergarten. I mean the principle of co-ordination, 
whose significance for the rational organization of the course 
of instruction will be discussed in another chapter. In the 
kindergarten all the work is related, articulated, organized. 
The aim is, to produce so far as possible a conceptual 
whole in the mind of the child. Thus there is a central 
thought selected, e. g., the idea of shelter, or of home life, 
or of food, or of protection, around which all the activities 



36 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

of the children are grouped, and which is also illustrated 
by story, song and game. Unfortunately, (or fortu- 
nately?) the child's mind is not capable of relating every- 
thing to a central thought, as it lacks the faculty of abstrac- 
tion, and the child's thinking and conceiving are fragmen- 
tary, touching the external world at many different and often 
wholly unrelated points. To restrict him to such things 
only as fit in with the "center of thought" as conceived by 
the adult, means a narrowing down of his circle of experi- 
ence to meet the requirements of an abstract theory, with- 
out gaining anything on the side of depth, or intensity. There 
is no harm in letting the child pick up his information and 
experience at random ; there is a whole life before him when 
he may convert the loose threads into a skilful fabric, and 
work out a unification of his concepts. To do that com- 
pletely is the criterion of the master's mind, and few, if any, 
attain to this glory. The principle of co-ordination has 
frequently been carried to extremes. Even one of our fore- 
most representatives of the kindergarten movement, Miss 
Susan E. Blow, as early as in the year 1898, "objected" to 
the practice more or less prevalent of making the gift exer- 
cises illustrate some selected idea — or "center of thought" 
for the week or month, such as the Flower-casket, the Car- 
penter, or Hiawatha, and "requiring each child to repeat the 
same illustration," to the entire sacrifice of Frobel's idea of 
self-expression. 

Here for the first time we have touched upon a point 
where the prevailing practice of the kindergarten seems to 
be in need of revision. Indeed the kindergartner has never 
been free from criticism, more or less intelligent and fair, 
but often pertinent, and it is well to consider a few of these 
in order to arrive at a clearer understanding of what may 
be done towards developing the kindergarten idea in a ra- 
tional manner. 

No time need be wasted on discussing the ignorant criti- 
cism that the kindergarten is merely a play-school, by which 
is meant that it has no value at all. But more weight must 
be attached to the contention that the kindergarten usurps 
the functions of the home, and that children of that age 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 37 

belong properly to the family. It cannot be denied that 
much of Frobel's teachings have no reference at all to a 
school-like kindergarten such as we are accustomed to call 
by this name, but to the early educationary efforts of the 
mother in the home. Thus, the ingeniously beautiful "Mut- 
ter-und-Koselieder" are not intended for the kindergarten 
pupil, as their very name signifies, but as a help towards the 
proper training of the youngest babes. Much of the ma- 
terial suggested for an earlier stage has indeed been usurped 
by the kindergarten, tho surely in a well-intentioned way, 
and because it was in reality not used in the family at all; 
just as primary classes will not infrequently make use of 
kindergarten material tho this is not at all suited, in the 
nature of things, to the next higher stage of the child's de- 
velopment. 

We may even maintain, with some degree of justice, that 
the proper application of the kindergarten methods would 
seem to make a grouping of a relatively few children together, 
in the home circle, if you please, or by the co-operation of a 
few families standing in friendly relations towards one an- 
other, preferable to a massing and mixing of large numbers. 
In this respect, certain modifications of the present practice 
may eventually commend themselves to us. But surely, there 
is a place for the kindergarten as such, as a connecting link be- 
tween the home and what is called the school proper. Small 
groups, especially such as are based upon the family circle, 
foster one-sidedness and exclusiveness, and even young chil- 
dren need the friction afforded by larger company and com- 
petition. On the other side, in the practice of the best kin- 
dergartens much has already been done to break up the 
unwieldy mass of children into well-matched groups of man- 
ageable size. 

The more noteworthy criticisms refer to the routine of 
the kindergarten itself. Its very perfection and detailed or- 
ganization have caused it to become more formal and rigid 
than is consistent with wholesome growth. There is a 
certain dogmatism about it all, and the gifts and occupations 
no more than the games and songs have become more and 
more stereotyped. This is utterly averse to the spirit of 



38 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

P'robel, whose main appeal was for natural growth. If 
he suggested a certain series of exercises and embodied his 
thought in certain forms, it was because these were at the 
time the method most suitable, in his estimation, to express 
his ideas. But his experience was limited, and his psychology 
but rudimentary. His great principles remain essentially 
unchanged and will forever guide us; the form in which he 
attempted to embody them, the manner in which he applied 
them in his practice, are necessarily transitory. Those kin- 
dergartners who have, in their admiration for the perman- 
ent glory of the new gospel of the kindergarten, elevated its 
form in all its details into a dogma, have become slaves of 
the letter and have lost the spirit. 

The stereotyped character of the present kindergarten prac- 
tice as found in many places has worked against the natural 
instincts of the children, the very ones it was intended to 
foster. 

Very severely expressed was the judgment of the well- 
known Italian educationist Guiseppe Sergi, who said in his 
book "Education ed Instruzione" (reviewed in "Pedag. Sem- 
inary," ii., 437): "It seems to me that this (Frobelian) 
method when it is a question of teaching things and of giv- 
ing ideas of things, is false, because in reality real things are 
not presented before the children for them to know, but 
figures of things; in other words, simulation is substituted 
for reality, figures and semblance of things are substituted 
for real things, — natural and artificial, or, in more general 
terms, the abstract for the concrete. I call simulation those 
artifices which are wont to be made with the hands and 
with objects to represent natural things, e. g., animals, or 
artificial things, e. g., a temple, a house, etc., by means of 
sticks and bits of wood combined when the children ought 
to be shown the real things, in order that they may begin 
to have exact ideas of these — Suggestion in education has its 
limits. At an age when mental activity is in process of de- 
velopment, certain procedures may have grave and danger- 
ous results — the brain continually waiting for new sugges- 
tions after the first, may be arrested and remain in habitual 
inertia ... the result of hindering proper functional 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 39 

development. The Frobelian method is weighed down by 
these defects, for, while seemingly desiring to allow liberty 
and independence of mental activity in children, in reality it 
suppresses them. In the use of games and plays suggested 
or made by the instructors, and of which the children are 
merely the automatic executors, the same method of sugges- 
tion continues, which ruins the natural development of the 
children, tends to equalize them all and to abolish all initia- 
tive and individuality — Thruout Frobelianism there is the 
symbol which destroys methodical and natural development. 
. . . Instead of its being said that the activity of the 
children is manifested in plays, as Frobel declared, we ought 
to say rather, that marionettism and refined automatism 
destroy the spontaneous activity of the children." 

This scathing denunciation of the kindergarten has been 
quoted not because it is considered a just criticism of Fro- 
bel's system, but because it shows how a vicious and unen- 
lightened practice, represented by those who undertake to in- 
troduce a new idea while being themselves steeped in the 
old, will turn reformatory measures into their very opposite. 
It seems plain that the kindergartens observed by Prof. Sergi 
had only Frobel's letter, not his spirit. 

As it often happens, the disciples of a great teacher over- 
do what they conceive to be his teachings, and are apt to 
carry his system to extremes. This is surely true of Frobel's 
gifts to which a sentimental and overstrained philosophy has 
attributed many more secret and mysterious virtues than 
Frobel himself may have dared to dream of. Educationally 
questionable as his mathematical type-forms may appear to 
the unbiased mind, they have not escaped this overstraining 
process. 

There seems to have been a stage in the artistic develop- 
ment of many peoples, when the mind conceived of life forms 
in mathematical, or specifically geometrical, symbols. The 
decorative motives of primitive tribes, picture writing, animal 
mounds, etc., give ample proof of this. Similarly there may 
be a tendency among young children to image in geometrical 
symbols. The fact is that many children delight in recogniz- 
ing life forms which are presented to them in geometrical dis- 



4 o THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

guise. Yet the question is whether they can be expected to 
create their own mathematical symbols, or whether it is ad- 
visable to force the symbolism of the gifts so extensively upon 
them. The primitive artistic creations mentioned above were 
apparently due to the first awakening, in the mental evolu- 
tion of the race, to appreciation of form as such, of sym- 
metry, and of geometrical relations. Geometry was the first 
of the exact sciences to be systematized by the ancients. But 
after all, the parallelism between the evolution of the race 
and that of the individual can not be carried so far as to make 
us overlook that primitive artists were, after all, adults living 
in primitive environment, while our children are modern hu- 
man beings, children tho they be. Mathematical form is surely 
an abstraction probably beyond the comprehension of the 
young child. Besides some of the apparently geometrical sym- 
bols of primitive art may not have been conceived as such by 
their creators, but were simply the result of immature skill, 
while we moderns, with our mathematically trained eyes, 
imagine to recognize mathematical conceptions. 

While it is certainly true that the kindergarten child lives 
in the symbolic stage, it is open to doubt whether the mathe- 
matical symbolism as represented by the sphere, cube, and 
cylinder, has much value in early education. 

Just as the stereotyped gifts are open to criticism as long 
as they are claimed to be the only, or the best suited means 
for the development of the young soul, the character of the 
occupations has also been exposed to severe censure. Some of 
these strictures are excessive and unjust. 

Yet there is much justification in the demand for a 
revision of the occupations as generally practiced. President 
G. Stanley Hall finds that much of the work done in the 
kindergarten is not at all suited to the nature of the little 
child, referring particularly to paper weaving with narrow 
paper strips, pricking, bead work, stick laying with tooth 
picks, and in general all occupations with small articles. Ex- 
periments have brought out the fact that a large proportion 
of the kindergarten pupils had neurotic diseases brought on 
and developed by this kind of work. In "A Preliminary 
Study of Motor Ability", in Pedag. Semin., in., i., John H. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 41 

Hancock recorded some instructive tests which were under- 
taken to examine into the children's ability to do the regu- 
lation work of the kindergarten. A pattern found in most 
kindergarten guides consists of four slats interlaced. This 
was taken for a test, using slats 8 inches long and 3^ inch 
wide. Four were taken and interlaced before the children, 
and left so for them to see; four others were then given to 
each child and the children were asked to interlace them. 
The slats were interlaced a second or even a third time before 
the children, yet but one child, a girl of six, succeeded ; 
nine copied the figure, the remaining fifty failed wholly. The 
ages ranged from 5 to 7. "I am not at present concerned," 
says the experimenter, "with the effect of training on the abil- 
ity of children to make these movements, but rather with the 
problem, what is the period of development of function in the 
nerve centers controlling the finer muscles concerned in deli- 
cate co-ordinations. Evidently for these children it is only 
beginning. Fifty-six boys were asked to thread a large 
needle; fifty succeeded, but only after two or three efforts; 
six failed, tho given extra large needles and more time. It 
was evidently new to most of them. After the first trial 
there was in many cases apparent a feeling of nervousness". 

Of course there is a reason for these effects. This rea- 
son is to be found in the natural order of development of 
control and co-ordination of movement in the child. This 
Drder is quite generally disregarded in the ordinary practice 
of the kindergarten owing to the mistaken idea that little chil- 
dren must do little things. The fact is that little children 
will do crude things, and that their scale must be compara- 
tively large. To insist upon accurate adjustments will neces- 
sarily result in failure, or in injury to the child. On the 
whole, the child's development does not follow what we may 
call a logical order, but it complies with the laws of growth, 
which are biological, not logical. Says Mr. Hancock: 

"The order of development of control is evidently, body, 
shoulder, arm, forearm, and hand. In the hand control the 
index finger differentiates between that of the others. . . . 

. Kindergarten work is usually too fine. Too great pre- 
cision, involving delicate and complex co-ordinations in past- 



42 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

ing, weaving, folding, pricking and sewing is insisted on. 
Occupations and games for young children should be of a 
nature that will involve large muscles and movements." 

And F. Burk, in his valuable study, "The Development 
of the Nervous System" (Pedag. Semin. vi., i) has this to 
say: 

"If infants first learned to make the simple reflexes, and 
this step performed, they proceeded to combine these elements 
into new unities and so on, we would have a logical 
order to retrace. But there are few evidences either in in- 
fancy or in later childhood of such steps from the logically 
simple to the complex. . . . Several other hand move- 
ments could be more or less definitely traced, commencing in 
the infant with complex reflexes, inexplicable as yet upon any 
theory except that of evolutionary origin and developing into 
human forms by modifications and additions that show no 
trace of logical arrangement. . . .Nor do all these com- 
plex but original co-ordinations appear immediately at birth. 
They are scattered along thru infancy and childhood sugges- 
tively corresponding to the development by distinct parts 
observed in the growth of the nervous system. . . . 

"We may sum up the matter of accuracy: (i) that as a 
primary condition which makes accuracy of hand and arm 
possible, the child must have a matured degree of control un- 
der directions of his higher level centers (i. e. voluntary). 
The fact that this maturity is not reached, normally, until 
the ninth or tenth year, makes questionable the efforts of the 
school to compel accuracy such as is required by the kinder- 
garten, and also by the primary school in writing, weaving, 
etc. (2) That the ability to be accurate in hand and finger 
movements increases very materially during school ages. (3) 
That accuracy depends indirectly upon the development of 
the body as a whole, the steadiness of the trunk muscles being 
as essential as the accuracy of hand or finger movements 
themselves. . . . (4) That steadiness of the trunk or 
central movements (fundamental) necessarily precede ability 
to be accurate in peripheral (or accessory) movements". 
. . . (It should be stated in fairness to progressive 
kindergartners that much has already been done in the best 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 43 

kindergartens of this country to effect a rational modification 
of the existing practice.) 

There is then to be a new adjustment of Frobel's thought 
to the needs and conditions of the child as revealed by the 
later researches into child nature. The laws of growth must 
be the governing laws in our dealings with the children, and 
the kindergarten itself must reflect these laws in its own 
constitution by liberating itself from dogmatism, so as to 
breathe anew the air of freedom wherein alone there is 
healthy development. Let us cast Frobel's immortal thoughts 
into new and nobler forms, such as will never again become 
rigid and stereotyped, but will change and expand and ma- 
ture as our own conceptions of child-life change and expand 
and mature. The very words of Frobel will inspire and 
guide us herein. Says he: "The fall from childhood's para- 
dise begins painfully early in these modern times. . . . 
By forcing the child out of his unconsciousness, by demanding 
of him reflection, by checking the joy of his receptiveness, by 
too much teaching, we spoil the divine teaching of God and 
Nature. . . . Let the child remain for a time ignorant 
of himself, live naturally, and drink in his wisdom and his 
religion which God makes play around him. Make the 
bridge from the cradle to manhood just as long as you can, 
leaving the child as a child as long as possible, not forcing 
him into premature development by intelligence or by any- 
thing else. Let him be a child and not a little ape or a man 
running about town." 

And it is well to understand that in the Kindergarten age 
no less than in other ages, the individual condition and 
need of a child must be the first consideration. What is best 
for one child may be injurious for another. Says Dr. Isaac 
A. Abt, a specialist in children's diseases, in a recent article: 
(An Inquiry into the Status of the Kindergarten. Archives 
of Pediatrics, April, 1909.) "In the final analysis we are 
forced to the conclusion as indeed one cannot fail to have 
been thruout the discussion, that each child must be con- 
sidered as an individual. In other words, the desirability 
of the kindergarten depends upon the state of health of the 
child, the qualifications of the teacher, the disposition and 



44 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

capacity of the mother, the environment of the home and the 
equipment of the kindergarten." 

As a closing thought to this, the following consideration is 
suggested. The kindergarten, as was affirmed in the begin- 
ning, has its value not only in administering to the peculiar 
needs of the children of a certain age, but mainly in estab- 
lishing a better recognition of the meaning of education 
generally. The principles evolved and practiced in the kin- 
dergarten are fundamental principles and must be understood 
as regulating all our educative efforts, thruout all the 
"grades" of the school no less than in the home. The ideas 
of objective work, of constructive activity, of "Learning by 
Doing", of sense training, of interrelation and co-ordination 
of the elements of instruction, of following the natural steps 
in the gradual unfolding of the child's soul and body, etc., 
etc., must pervade the entire curriculum. In others words, it 
is the mission of the kindergarten to leaven the whole lump 
of school education by the same principles which gave it 
birth; to emphasize the necessity of erecting the entire edu- 
cational superstructure on the kindergarten foundations; and 
while varying the methods employed according to the ages 
of the children, to apply thruout the fundamental thoughts 
of Frobel. Thus the kindergarten will be but the basement 
story, as it were, of a larger structure devoted in its en- 
tirety to the New Education. It must no longer be a separate 
branch of school instruction, distinctly different from the 
rest, and patched onto the routine system — in an external, 
superficial manner — but it must set the pace, it must point 
to the goal, it must lead the way to better things. It should 
teach us how to discover the child wherever he is, whether 
in the primary classes or in the high school. It should ex- 
pand so as to embrace the entire school, and absorb the whole 
system within itself, converting it into one large KINDER- 
GARTEN. 



CHAPTER III 

The Principle of Co-ordination of Studies 

THE term "co-ordination of studies" has been fre- 
quently used to designate an educational prin- 
ciple which has reference to a systematic unifi- 
cation of all instructional elements in the school 
curriculum. We owe the suggestion of this prin- 
ciple mainly to the advocates of the educational philosophy 
of the great German thinker, Friedrich Herbart. Herbart, 
however, only laid the psychological foundation of what is 
now known in educational history as the "scientific peda- 
gogy"; it was due to such men as Ziller and Stoy that the 
new movement mapped out a practical system of school edu- 
cation. Tuiscon Ziller and his followers based their system 
and course of instruction on a "central idea". This central 
idea was pre-eminently an ethical one. The development of 
the moral and religious character of the pupil was, with 
them, the principal aim of education. In their endeavor to 
group all the different studies around this central idea, they 
advanced the theory that the child passes, in rapid succes- 
sion, thru a series of mental stages which represent, in an 
abbreviated form, the various epochs in the evolution of the 
race. 

It is a well-known biological law, in accordance with the 
theory of evolution, that the physical development of each 
living being is a repetition, or epitome, of all stages of de- 
velopment thru which the entire series of its ancestors has 
passed, so that the differential characteristics of the species 
to which the creature belongs, will develop last. The men- 
tal development is thought to be good and by the same law. 

45 



46 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

In the following chapters more will be said about the latest 
conception of this "culture epoch theory", which has also 
been confronted with much adverse criticism. Many, or 
most, of the author's own suggestions will be based upon 
a revised form of this principle. 

With their "central ethical idea" in view, and considering 
that this race development is recorded in such studies as 
Biblical and secular history, in literature, language, etc., the 
educationists of the Herbart-Ziller school grouped their en- 
tire course of instruction around these literary records and 
the thoughts suggested by them, disfranchising, as it were, 
all other studies by making them subservient to this princi- 
pal end. The leading studies, therefore, which supply the 
effective principle of co-ordination, are the humanistic 
branches: history, literature, dogmatic religion, and lan- 
guage, which form the central group. Such studies as geo- 
graphy and natural science, even arithmetic, are grouped 
around these so that they progress in close connection with, 
and principally directed by, the religio— ethico-historical 
group. This is what Ziller called "concentration of in- 
struction." 

Much might be said by way of criticism of this concen- 
tration scheme of the Herbartians which represents an er- 
roneous application of some very sound educational and philo- 
sophical principles. It may suffice here to refer briefly to 
the artificiality of a plan which selects certain branches as 
primary to which all others are forcibly subordinated. To 
constrain the entire subject-matter of school instruction, geo- 
graphy, natural history, reading, writing, etc., into an un- 
natural dependence on ethico-historical topics which are sup- 
posed to represent eight different culture periods and as 
many different epochs in the child's development, or school 
grades, is mere pedantry. Each subject of instruction has, 
to some extent, an independent province, with laws, aims, 
and an individual life and organization of its own which 
must be respected. 

The terms "correlation" , "interrelation" , "co-ordination" , 
and "concentration" have been used somewhat indiscrimin- 
ately and interchangeably by educationists. Some apply the 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 47 

term "correlation" as a collective, or general, term, and then 
distinguish "concentration", in the Herbartian sense, as 
meaning a subordination of all other branches to the so-called 
culture studies; "co-ordination", as meaning the arrange- 
ment of all studies in a series of separate but co-ordinate 
groups which have each an independent value, but are not 
only correlated with one another so as to produce a unity 
of conception, but are each so organized that in each a cen- 
tral idea controls all the elements therein included. Thus, 
Dr. Harris, one of the earliest and most devoted Herbart- 
ians, recognized five co-ordinate groups: (i) mathematics; 
(2) geography (as the elementary form of science) 5(3) lit- 
erature; (4) grammar and language; (5) history. 

It is interesting to note, however, that even Dr. Harris' 
mind was haunted by the idea of concentration pure and sim- 
ple. True, he spoke of "unity" in an article in which he 
explained his contribution to the once famous Report of 
the Committee of Fifteen: "The report finds a deep under- 
lying unity, and affirms the necessity of approaching this 
unity at all points of the course of study, but without the 
hope of reaching the fundamental unity until the period of 
higher education." But elsewhere, he had arrived at this 
surprising conclusion: "The whole elementary course may 
be described as an extension of the process of learning the 
art of reading"! It is evident from this sentence that Dr. 
Harris had a very inadequate conception of the objective and 
motor elements of education, at that time, at least. 

The third term frequently suggested, "interrelation", has 
been used to denote a system which places the different 
branches of instruction in mutual relation without attempt- 
ing to organize them in groups or to subordinate any of 
them to so-called centers. Much discussion has been going 
on as to which of these plans is best. But there is not neces- 
sarily an antagonism between the different plans. They 
have all their values at different stages of the educational 
and instructional practice if we allow the evolutionary 
stages of the child to guide us in organizing the instructional 
elements. Of this, more will be said in later chapters of this 
book. 



48 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

The term "co-ordination" seems to commend itself as pre- 
ferable, in a general sense, because it recognizes, as has been 
shown, the independence of the different branches, each in 
its own sphere; and while it allows of the grouping of stud- 
ies in co-ordinated and correlated clusters, this grouping may 
be varied to suit different and successive needs as they may 
manifest themselves in the gradual unfolding of the child's 
mind. The term "co-ordination" does not imply the subor- 
dination of any study to any other, but permits us to con- 
ceive of all individual branches as co-ordinate elements, if 
this conception should at any time suggest itself. Thus, 
while it denotes the connection and interrelation of all, it 
also grants freedom to each. 

But before entering further into a discussion of the prin- 
ciples of co-ordination as the author understands them, a 
few preliminary remarks seem pertinent. 

Co-ordination, as ordinarily understood, is based prin- 
cipally upon the real or assumed relationship of the subjects 
of instruction. This relationship may, of course, be very 
differently apprehended by different persons, in accordance 
with their individual idiosyncrasies. Everybody, e. g., will 
appreciate the relation and interdependence of arithmetic, 
algebra, and geometry; or of history and geography. But 
whether the one or the other is to figure as the primary, 
or the secondary, study — as to which one must be consid- 
ered the leading and which the subservient and accessory 
discipline, is a matter of individual preference and attitude. 
Even the relative value of the different branches, or groups, 
is variously estimated. There are not a few who maintain 
that language and arithmetic are but form studies whose 
only function is to serve as tools for the acquisition and ex- 
pression of the thought as contained in the "content studies" 
such as geography, history, literature, science, etc. Again, 
some place language and arithmetic in the front rank, as 
being pre-eminently educational, and to whose proper cultiva- 
tion the other studies merely furnish the material. 

It is certainly advantageous, in surveying the many differ- 
ent branches of instruction, to group them in an organically 
connected and articulated system, and were it but for the pur- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 49 

pose of penetrating into their mutual relations and of learn- 
ing to conceive of them as parts of a great whole which may 
be differently denominated as Knowledge, or Culture, or 
Civilization. The final aim of such efforts is the unification 
of all branches in a philosophic order or theory which is prac- 
tically identical with a conception of the World as an organ- 
ism, or a divine creation, or whatever you will, wherein all 
forces and elements combine to further certain, more or less 
clearly recognized or recognizable ends. 

Evidently useful and necessary as such unification must be, 
and even tho we should awaken in each pupil the desire, and 
strengthen the faculty, to correlate all culture elements, so as 
to build up a unified world-conception of his own — this pro- 
cess is absolutely dependent upon the individual point of view, 
or the individual mental attitude and aptitude of the thinker 
himself. It appears educationally doubtful to force any 
such individual viewpoint upon any child, or school, or school 
system. We ought rather to help each child to find his own 
point of view among the multitude of possible attitudes, even 
tho his may materially differ from our own. For this reason, 
any co-ordination of studies which is based exclusively and 
rigidly upon our conception of their interrelation as branches 
of a philosophic unity, disregards the CHILD as an organ- 
izing center and agent. It is, at best, a logical or theoretical 
co-ordination, but not one which is adequate to respond to the 
needs of the child. 

For the sake of convenience we may group all subjects 
under some definite heads, or collective centers, such as, 
e. g., (1) ENVIRONMENT, which would be a differ- 
ent name for geography, ethnography, and would include 
nature study, even mathematics, this latter study being 
based upon measurement, and establishing the science of 
relations; and (2) HISTORY, which would refer to all 
the experiences of the race, and would therefore embrace 
language and literature and art. Accepting these two cen- 
ters, manual and art training would assume the function of 
methodical elements thru whose agency the forces of nature 
and the civilization of man would be better comprehended ; 
while music, perhaps, would in one sense be accessory to 



50 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

literature, in another to physical training. 

Again, there is the division of subjects into form-studies 
and content-studies, as has been mentioned before. Then we 
may divide them into such as develop the mind intellectually ; 
others, whose function is the moral training of the young 
hearts to the acceptance and assimilation of noble ideals; and 
thirdly those which have the normal development of the body 
for their prime object. Mathematics may be placed in the 
first group; literature in the second, and gymnastics in the 
third. There are many other ways of grouping the subjects 
— all more or less helpful and convenient in the working out 
of a course of study, but none of them fully satisfactory and 
solving all difficulties. There will have to be cross-references 
everywhere. 

The principal danger in working out plans of this sort 
consists in this that there will be an ever-present temptation 
to seek and establish artificial centers such as recommend 
themselves to the philosophizing mind of the adult while they 
may be foreign to the thought and interest of the child. 
Thus, where the story of Robinson Crusoe has been made the 
center of the work of a certain grade, all the exercises of that 
grade will for the time being be made to refer exclusively to 
that interesting figure until the child loathes tp hear of him. 
The kindergarten, as has been shown in the previous chap- 
ter, has especially suffered from this conception of co-ordina- 
tion. In the sequence of weekly themes which cover such 
subjects as home-life, shelter, food, covering, Thanksgiving, 
Christmas, winter, the resurrection of the flowers and the like, 
it has been customary to correlate all work of the week so as 
to have a bearing upon the "theme". Amusing and grotesque 
examples of the absurd things that have been done in conse- 
quence of this attempt to force everything into the straight- 
jacket of the "theme" might be quoted. In fact, kindergart- 
ners have sometimes refused to adopt certain lines of work into 
their course for the only reason that they did not know how 
to "co-ordinate" them with their weekly themes. Here is 
the rhyme-bound groan of a teacher whose supervisors in- 
sisted on this sort of artificial correlation: 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 51 

With back that was aching and tired 

And brain in a pitiful state, 
A teacher sat at a laden desk 

Attempting to correlate: — 

Cocoons and Indian chiefs, 

And the length of Agoonac's hose; 
The cubic root of the Nation's debt, 

Turtles and niggertoes; 

Earth and water and air, 

Elephants, adverbs and cheese, 
Box-elder trees and the pyramids, 

With the cause of the ocean breeze. 

Oh, but to teach again 

As once I used to teach 
Before I heard of "unify" 

Or "pedagogic speech"; 

Only for one short hour 

To think as once I thought — 
That schools were made for the children 

And lessons to be taught. 

Oh, to be at rest 

Under the violets blue, 
Where "daily outlines" never come 

And reports are never due. 

Cocoons and Indian chiefs, 

Presidents, camels and seas, 
Olympic games and glacier beds, 

Pronouns and bumble-bees. 

(School Education.) 

We may not, perhaps, agree with all her longings, but we 
can surely sympathize with her perplexity and distress. We 
shall see presently that it is well to establish associations in 



52 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

the mind of the child ; yet we need not fear that at random — 
impressions will get lost. Something must be left to the 
spontaneous associative ability of the child. It is an idle 
attempt to pre-digest everything for him. We can trust in 
his natural ability to assimilate the wealth of excitations and 
sensations rushing to him from all sides, in his own individ- 
ual way. The child is unable to control and organize all 
these perceptions at once, and we, on the other hand, shall 
find it to be far beyond our power to control, or even to be 
aware of, this enormous mass of sense-impressions and stim- 
ulations of thought. The child stores up this treasure in his 
brain without the possibility of immediate correlation; his 
thinking is necessarily fragmentary. This need cause no 
anxiety, for the process of organizing these impressions is 
long, but sure, if otherwise care be taken to establish rational 
habits of thought. This process of organization is com- 
mensurate to the child's process of maturing, and is governed 
by the eternal laws of mental activity. In other words, the 
loose threads will be occasionally gathered up and gradually 
woven into a conceptual fabric characteristic of the individual 
mind. 

We must look for leading principles of true co-ordination 
not so much in the interdependence of the subject matter of 
instruction as such, but rather in the psychological laws which 
govern the working of the juvenile mind, and of mind gen- 
erally. The interdependence of the instructional details of 
the subject matter will assist us in the practical work of the 
schoolroom, to establish psychological relations; but the prin- 
ciples of arrangement must be derived from the psychological 
conditions themselves. That is to say, the logical relations 
of the branches of instruction are external facts, and can be- 
come internalized, i. e., they can become modes of thought, 
or mental organisms, only thru a psychological process. 

Were it not so there would never be cause of feeling 
aggrieved at observing how many minds there are to be 
found in which a great many external facts are stored up as 
so many pebbles in a bag — facts which are obviously related, 
objectively considered, but which have not become subjec- 
tively associated. The sad effect of this condition will become 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 53 

manifest in the general conduct of these individuals which 
will be characterized by pitiful inconsistency. Thus, a man 
who is a scientific genius may be discovered to be a bigot in 
matters of religion ; or a kind-hearted man who is a loving 
father and husband, may be a veritable tyrant and egotist in 
his social intercourse, or in his relations to employees. Exam- 
ples of such inconsistency may be multiplied — but they are 
all due to the fact that an objective relation of external facts 
is not always mirrored in the mind of man by a correspond- 
ing psychological organization which has produced a subjec- 
tive reality, a mental attitude, a mode of thought. 

It appears, then, that the real center of a co-ordinative 
system of instruction must be the CHILD. We are indebted 
to Herbart for a distinct formulation of the principle which 
governs the acquisition of knowledge by the learning child. 
The process by which the mind appropriates and assimilates 
knowledge is called apperception. Dr. Karl Lange, in his 
famous monograph on the subject, defines this process as fol- 
lows: 

"In general, we master the outer world thru our percep- 
tions, and only thru them; yet in their very nature there 
lies at the same time an important limit for all knowing. 
Just because the perceiving mind does not passively receive ex- 
ternal things or their images, because nothing foreign can 
press in upon it or be communicated immediately to it, but 
because it relates itself actively to all outer excitations and 
responds to them in its own way, therefore, in a strict sense, 
our perceptions have only relative truth and validity. 

"This activity of the perceiving mind, however, explains 
another important fact. It is a well-known experience that 
one and the same object seldom occasions precisely similar 
perceptions in the minds of different people. Of the same 
landscape the poet's image would differ greatly from that of 
the botanist, the painter's from that of the geologist or the 
farmer, the stranger's from that of him who calls it home. 

. . . There are as many ideas of one and the same 
thing as there are observers. Whence this variation in ap- 
prehension, with otherwise similar sense apparatus? . . . 
The mind apprehends the things of the outer world with the 



54 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

assistance of what it has already experienced, felt, learned 
and digested. And so it comes about that with nearly all 
new perceptions the former content of our mind makes itself 
felt, so that we become conscious of more than that which 
the objects themselves furnish us, seeing the latter thruout 
in the light of similar ideas already present in the mind. 

"The process of perception must not therefore be regarded 
as such a simple matter as superficial observation might seem 
to indicate. ... In order that a sensation may arise, 
there is, as a rule, a fusion or union of its content with similar 
ideas and feelings. With the assistance of the latter, the 
sensation is held in consciousness, elevated into greater clear- 
ness, properly related to the remaining fields of thought, and 
so truly assimilated. We call this second act, in distinction 
from that of simple perception or the reception of a sensation, 
APPERCEPTION, or mental assimilation." 

This same fact has often been expressed as a principle of 
method, in the form of maxims, such as: "From the known 
to the unknown", or, with another element added to it: 
"From the easy to the difficult," — "From the simple to the 
complex", — "From the concrete to the abstract." It is evi- 
dent that the logical relation of the details of the subject mat- 
ter will enable us to make the application of this general rule 
a comparatively easy thing. In this manner we shall establish 
an instructional interrelation of topics — introducing new 
ones by establishing apperceptive associations with those which 
existed before. In order to accomplish this effectively, teach- 
ers will have to ascertain the mental status of the children 
entrusted to their care, the extent and character of the con- 
cepts already forming their intellectual possessions and deter- 
mining their emotional attitude; and there are other factors 
to be observed, as the reaction time, inhibition power, fatigue 
limit, and the like, of individual children, and other things. 

It is clear that the concepts gained in one branch of 
study, or thru one kind of activity, will condition and re-en- 
force concepts which are to be mediated thru others. Thus, 
historical and geographical elements will prove mutually help- 
ful; arithmetical concepts will attain greater distinction by 
geometrical methods of instruction; laboratory practice will 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 55 

form a basis for true scientific ideas; the making of objects 
will complete their conceptual images; and animistic myths 
will prove themselves a fit introduction to science proper. 

A relation of new matter, by way of concrete examples, 
of examples which refer back to the child's previous experi- 
ence, to an "apperceptive basis", is especially mandatory in 
the case of elements which are remote from the senses, or 
foreign to the immediate environment and experience of the 
child. Here, teachers frequently make the mistake of neg- 
lecting the apperceptive process, taking it for granted that 
children can as easily jump from one concept to another as 
adults, with their much wider range of experiences and as- 
sociations, may be expected to do. 

It is often amusing as well as instructive to observe how 
easily children are tempted, by the narrow circle of their 
experience, to make false analogies, that is to connect new 
impressions with the wrong apperceptive group. In reading 
about the triumphal entrance of Columbus, with King Ferd- 
inand and Queen Isabella, of Spain, after his first voyage to 
America, a certain class of children was much interested in 
the "royal mantle" which the king wore. When asked what 
that was, a bright little girl answered, 'A kind of light." 
She had confused the royal garment with a Welsbach man- 
tle, the only kind of a "mantle" she had ever heard of. A 
king in a Welsbach mantle would have been an interesting 
spectacle indeed. 

By interrelating subjects so as to respond to the demand 
of apperceptive procedure, we need in no wise destroy their 
individual independence. So far, indeed, there is no sugges- 
tion of an absolute unification at any stage, or of the subor- 
dination of any one subject to any other. They must be 
made mutually helpful; and it is a principle of economy 
in evolution to relate details to common groups, or prin- 
ciples, so as to enable the child to establish a conceptual 
order in the wilderness and embarrassing multitude of de- 
tails so that he may recognize old friends in new settings or 
dress. Unless this be accomplished, he may have to learn 
anew about the same geometrical form in the workshop 
which had become familiar to him as an element of his 



56 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

mathematical study; or he will not recognize in the con- 
struction of a stove an application of the same laws which 
he had studied in his physical laboratory as governing the 
radiation and distribution of heat. 

But this apperceptive relation once established, it is well 
to rigidly isolate the details in the daily lesson so that there 
may be concentration of attention upon the object or subject 
in hand. Without such isolation and specialization, a clear 
understanding of the individual subject as such will be just 
as impossible as it would be thru neglect of the apperceptive 
helps. Each detail has its individual importance, and even 
its correlative significance will lack definiteness if we allow 
it to be constantly mixed up with more or less hazy associa- 
tions. 

The apperceptive process is based upon the law of inter- 
est. What has no relation to things we already know fails 
to appeal to our interest, and there will consequently be no 
effort on the part of the mind to seize upon the new object 
and assimilate it. Speaking of "native" and acquired inter- 
ests", Prof. William James, in his "Talks to Teachers on 
Psychology", said : 

"Other objects can artificially acquire an interest only 
thru first becoming associated with some of these natively 
interesting things. Begin with the line of his native inter- 
ests, and offer him objects that have some immediate con- 
nection with these. . . . The interest, being shed along 
from point to point, finally suffuses the entire system of ob- 
jects of thought. . . . This is the psychological mean- 
ing of that whole method of concentration in studies. . . . 
When the geography and English and history and arithme- 
tic simultaneously make cross-references to one another, you 
get an interesting set of processes all along the line." 

In this way, the immediate environment of a child, such 
as the idea of shelter, food, clothing, etc., may in fact fur- 
nish valuable centers of interest, thruout the grades, in all 
their various aspects, co-ordinating geography, science, man- 
ual work, mathematics, history. If these are recognized in 
the practice of the school, there is no objection to be raised, if 
they are treated in the elastic manner which has been sug- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 57 

gested before. 

The following principles may be pointed out, as apt to 
guide us in the correlative arrangement of the subject mat- 
ter in a rational course of study: 

The Principle of Elimination is suggested as the first of 
these. We must eliminate what is unessential, useless, and 
consequently burdensome. There can be no doubt whatever 
that the old practice of devoting the entire school time to a 
few subjects has created the unwholesome custom of dwell- 
ing too much on unnecessary and even positively harmful 
details. The abuses characterizing the spelling lessons are 
still fresh in the memory of teachers, and were it not for 
the fact that they are not yet wholly a thing of the past, 
and that there are many people clamoring even now for a 
return to the old methods, we should not need to emphasize 
once more that there is no advantage in drilling the pupils 
in the orthography of hundreds and thousands of words 
which they will possibly never use in their writing. 

In a similar manner, much of what now constitutes the 
course in arithmetic, notably the greater part of the so-called 
practical, i. e., commercial examples, should be left out from 
the curriculum. All this ballast cannot be advantageously 
co-ordinated. 

A second principle is that of Direct Combination. Math- 
ematics, e. g., cannot claim a place on the school program 
as an abstract, isolated study. It should be largely "ob- 
jectified", by being directly combined with the world of ob- 
jects. Wherever accuracy in thought is demanded, there 
is mathematical material of some kind. The abundance of 
really practical problems that may be supplied by manual 
exercises in pasteboard, wood, iron-work and construction, 
sewing, by exercises in drawing, designing, and modeling, 
needs no explanation. Science lessons are especially fruitful 
in offering problems for mathematical consideration. In 
geography, the number of inhabitants and area of cities and 
countries ; the length of rivers ; absolute and relative eleva- 
tion; distances, etc., may be measured and compared. The 
density of population ; miles of railroads ; kinds and per- 
centage of products; import and export; postal, railroad and 



58 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

steamer service ; the rising and setting of the sun ; the rela- 
tive size of the earth, continents, and oceans, etc., etc., afford 
an endless variety of exercises. Even history abounds with 
welcome opportunities. We may measure and compare the 
duration of institutions and historical conditions; the dis- 
tance in time between important events; results of wars; 
taxes; feudal services and tributes; value of money at dif- 
ferent periods and in different countries; cost and organi- 
zation of communal and national governments; of public 
institutions, schools, prisons, police, etc. Beginning in the 
lowest grades, in fact in the kindergarten, approximately 
accurate numerical statements, growing more and more ex- 
act as the pupils increase in maturity, ought to accompany 
all form study, occupations and even games. Form study 
proper will lead up to the recognition of typical forms, thru 
direct observation, comparison and construction of solids; 
and in the highest grades, the abstract mathematical truths 
discovered may find expression in algebraic form, which, in 
turn, will enable the pupil to solve a number of problems 
of really practical value with greater ease and more under- 
standing^. 

In a like or similar manner other subjects will be combined 
or connected, e. g., geography with history and natural his- 
tory; grammar with composition; spelling with reading, writ- 
ing, and grammar, etc. Thus suggests another principle re- 
sulting from the necessity of readjustment, viz.: 

The Principle of Variety in Practice. "Repetitio est mater 
studiorum." There is a need of a certain amount of drill 
and exercise in each branch of study for the sake of clarifying 
and intensifying the concepts, and of making them the in- 
destructible property of the mind. Heretofore endless repe- 
titions and reviews within the limits of each separate study 
were the rule; this required an undue amount of time and 
was extremely wearisome to both pupil and teacher. Besides, 
it amounted to little more than a mechanical re-iteration of a 
number of relatively meaningless separate facts. The wise 
teacher will realize that practice and exercise do not mean a 
mere going over the same ground again in endless succes- 
sion, but rather the application of what has been learned in 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 59 

one way, in a different way, so that the lesson may be seen 
by the pupil in a new light, and assume the more attractive- 
ness to him the more new sides and properties he discovers 
in it. 

What can be practiced in the shop needs not be practiced 
over in the laboratory; what can be reviewed in a reading 
lesson will relieve history instruction of part of its burden. 
This is the age of the "supplementary" reader. Thus time 
can be gained all around and a number of "new" branches 
can be introduced for which there seemed no room on the pro- 
gram. And in the same measure in which such an arrange- 
ment, based on the principle of variety in practice, accords 
with the psychological laws of attention, interest and exer- 
cise, it serves to unify the instructional elements im- 
parted to the child, by establishing relations and associations, 
and thus tends to bring about that harmony of conception 
which is the foundation of ethical culture. 

Discussing the principles governing the psychological ad- 
justment of concepts in mind, it becomes evident that the 
co-ordination of studies will have to be based mainly upon 
the 

Principle of Objectivity which is apparently the most effec- 
tive principle of co-ordination; and if any studies are to be 
selected to occupy an honorary place on a methodically ar- 
ranged curriculum of the elementary school, we must look 
for those that embody this principle most efficiently. The 
child is constantly dealing with objects; objects stand fore- 
most in his mind; his sense-perceptions pertain to objects on 
which he sharpens and trains his powers of apprehension and 
conception ; which supply him with those concepts which are 
destined to form the groundwork of all his mental activity, 
and the material of his thoughts and reflections, the founda- 
tions even of his abstract reasoning, and on which certainly 
his interest concentrates. 

As in the kindergarten, so in the entire elementary school 
course, all other studies will group themselves around objec- 
tive work. This may be summed up under two different 
heads: (i) Nature studies, and (2) Manual work. This 
is practically in accord with Herbert Spencer's demand to 



60 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

assign to science the first place in school instruction, on the 
ground that it is the "knowledge which is of most worth." 
To distinguish manual work from the object lessons, or 
science work, is perhaps superfluous: for manual exercises 
may be considered merely as a methodical device. In them 
the principle of objectivity finds its most forcible applica- 
tion ; they represent the experimental and constructive side of 
nature studies — for the word "nature" stands for the entire 
world of objects that appeal to the sense. There is hardly 
an essential difference between the production of a crystal, 
the construction of some piece of physical apparatus, the dis- 
section of a fish, and the manufacture of a box, the making 
of a garment, or the preparation of a savory dish, as long as 
these exercises are conducted in an educational spirit. In the 
workshop the properties of matter are as practically studied 
as in the physical laboratory. 

It is well to say in parenthesis that the principle of objec- 
tivity, as a principle of method, applies to all subjects of 
school instruction, even to those which appear to be the most 
remote from the senses. 

When we connect theoretical instruction more or less di- 
rectly with practical studies and work, and group its different 
branches concentrically, as it were, around the latter, a 
system of associations will be elaborated which will prove 
very beneficial in all directions. When a child has learned 
to apply the law of gravitation or the mathematical prin- 
ciple of proportion in his shop work or in a physical experi- 
ment, he will recall it more easily, and will likewise under* 
stand it better: for the work he does in his endeavor to pro- 
duce something which is governed by what he has theoretic- 
ally learned to recognize as laws or principles, will make an 
incomparably deeper impression upon his imagination and will 
be retained much longer and more distinctly by his memory 
than any mere theoretical exposition. 

Apperception of new concepts would be impossible, as we 
have seen, were we not in the condition to associate them 
with, and assimilate them to, concepts already formed. The 
entire body of concepts, however, which represents our intel- 
lectual possessions, is the product originally of direct sense- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 61 

perception, and the discrimination, combination, classification, 
and modification of the same by the activity of our imagina- 
tive and reasoning powers. The more comprehensive, ac- 
curate, and suggestive our perceptions, the more reliable and 
better grounded will be our apperception, the better equipped 
and more powerful our mind. 

Of the motor values of objective and manual exercises, 
more will be said in a later chapter. But even the foregoing 
argument will suffice to set forth the claims of these exercises 
to be recognized as efficient for the stimulation of the higher 
processes of mental activity, so that they may fitly be con- 
sidered the vantage ground of successful instructional effort. 

In grouping the studies of the school curriculum in the 
light of the principle of objectivity which we have recog- 
nized to be the effective principle of co-ordination, the usual 
order of relative values appears to be reversed. Heretofore 
reading, writing, and arithmetic occupied the central position, 
and the other branches, including natural science and manual 
training, were reluctantly admitted and barely tolerated at 
first. Now the objective branches dethrone the ancient trin- 
ity, and a new dynasty ascends to the seat of honor. The 
central group is formed by elementary natural science, includ- 
ing geography and manual training, as well as the education 
of all the senses, consequently such branches as physical exer- 
cise, vocal music, and elocution. Around this central group 
are arranged those studies which derive their subject matter 
from indirect observations or secondary concepts, but which, 
nevertheless, are of supreme importance on account of their 
specific culture value: literature, ethics, history. Language, 
as being essentially a means, or mode, of reception, formula- 
tion, and expression of thought, is the common servant to all, 
which, as a servant and as a vehicle of the assertion of indi- 
viduality, is worthy of the most careful training. The mathe- 
matical element whose function it is to give accuracy and 
exactness to ideas, and to evolve the definite from the in- 
definite, permeates the entire body of studies. 

What distinguishes this scheme from that of Ziller and 
other educationists of the concentration school, is not only 
the substitution of another effective principle of co-ordination, 



62 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

but also the democratic spirit which pervades it. It is, be- 
sides, largely a methodical scheme, selecting, as it does, the 
natural vantage points in each branch of human knowledge; 
it purports a grouping of activities rather than one of so- 
called branches of instruction. It establishes a right relation be- 
tween the studies without forcing the majority of them into a 
humiliating subservience to one central idea. It preserves for 
each a wholesome amount of independence. They are grouped 
in the order of their functions, true; but the central group 
represents rather the government of a democratic republic 
than an absolute monarchy. In it the principle of educa- 
tional unity manifests itself, and the highest functions of the 
entire system are, therefore, vested in that group. 

And there is another significant point of difference. The 
system here suggested preserves a wholesome elasticity. The 
arrangement proposed rests on the discrimination of the re- 
ceptive and the expressive powers of the mind. Now, while 
it is true that the mind receives its primary ideas thru direct 
sense-perception, so that language appears to be nothing 
but a vehicle of expression, it is no less true that language 
also mediates a vast number of secondary concepts which, in 
the end, form the larger and more important part of our 
stock of knowledge. Language, as will be seen later, has 
also a distinct value for the training of the reasoning powers. 
And it must not be overlooked that language is only one of 
the modes of expression, even, as Dr. N. M. Butler once 
expressed it, "of all the modes the most difficult, the most 
abstract, the latest acquired." The very same experiments, 
and manual and art exercises, which we have included in the 
central group, are so many modes of expression. "Man can 
express his mental states or ideas by the use of language, by 
gesture, by delineation and by construction." Now this 
mode, then another mode of acquisition or of expression will 
be the most appropriate and efficient, and the exercises will 
have to vary accordingly, one "study" or "subject", or one 
method of treatment, being substituted for another. 

This outline of principles points to another consideration 
which has only recently been appreciated in its fuller sig- 
nificance. If the center of any rational system of co-ordin- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 63 

ated instruction is the child — if it is acknowledged that the 
child's native interests will regulate our course and guide 
our steps in all our educational efforts: it is plain that it 
would be futile to attempt the establishment of a system of 
correlation which would neglect the successive stages of 
growth, and which would remain rigidly stereotyped thru- 
out the grades. For the child's native interests change with 
his growth, as he passes thru successive developmental epochs 
which, while making him very unlike the adult at each in- 
dividual stage, can roughly be compared to the successive 
stages which are historically and biologically evident in the 
evolution of civilized man. These shifting interests, expres- 
sive as they are of the relative culture level which he has 
reached, will have to be utilized as points of vantage; and 
the work of each grade, or instructional period, will have to 
be grouped around the central interest. In this way, indeed, 
an arrangement will commend itself which may justly be 
called an approach to concentration; for tho there never need 
be an absolute sacrifice of what I have called the "loose 
threads", there will have to be a temporary subordination 
of certain branches, not so much to any particular other 
branch, but to some central idea which will correspond to 
the child's supreme interest at each epoch, and to his stage 
of physiological and psychological evolution. As these 
change, so the central ideas will change, and now this, now 
another "leading principle" will assume prominence. There 
will have to be a continuous re-adjustment of subject mat- 
ter as the child progresses from infancy to maturity. 

To illustrate once more, as has been done in the foregoing 
chapter: the kindergarten and even the primary child, rep- 
resenting the symbolic stage, will be supremely interested in 
mythological conceptions of the world around him. All 
the work in nature study, in literature, in history, in con- 
structive activity even, will exhibit symbolical and mytho- 
logical aspects, and correspond to the play instinct of these 
early years. Again, the boy of pubescent age, in the sixth 
and seventh grades of the ordinary system, cares little for 
dreamy symbolism and mere make-believe activity. His in- 
terest centers in adventurous heroism, and he evolves altru- 



64 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

istic feelings out of primitive selfishness. The work of this 
period must be heroic, bold, and partake of the nature of 
conquest, as it were. Heroic history, with its geographi- 
cal setting, virile poetry, arduous and incentive work in 
mathematics and science such as will engage fullest intel- 
lectual strength and desire for conquering obstacles, much 
physical exercise and the like, will constitute a wholesome 
diet for him. The girl of this period is quite different — 
sexual differentiation setting in at this time, and she needs 
a different instructional prescription. It will be seen that 
reference is here made not so much to a subordination of 
subjects, as to a careful selection of topics and tasks, and to 
the method of their presentation. 

There is, however, one particular point requiring atten- 
tion. It has been shown by psychological research that there 
are what has been called "nascent periods" for different ac- 
tivities, in the mental evolution of the child, periods which 
give birth, as the name implies, to new developments. Thus, 
we have the language instinct arising at the time of infancy 
and reaching its climax during the years from seven to 
eleven. The years from five to seven are the "counting 
period", when children will count anything and everything. 
At 9, children reach maturity in hand and finger control; 
but not before the eleventh year is the freedom of the wrist 
movement gained. At IO, the pleasure of thinking out log- 
ical sequences springs up ; at 1 1 , there is a minimum of inter- 
est in reading, followed immediately by a maximum at 12. 
This age is also the maximum point of the interest in geo- 
metrical and in mechanical puzzles. More of this will be 
said in another chapter. It requires no extensive argument 
to point to the great instructional importance of these periods 
of nascent interests, for it is at these junctures when we can 
enlist the child's greatest effort in the mastering of the sub- 
jects upon which his attention is concentrated, to which his 
mind awakens. Consequently, we shall do well to lay spe- 
cial emphasis upon such subjects at such times, and to sub- 
ordinate all others. Tho we are yet far from being able to 
determine in detail these nascent periods for all branches 
of instruction, or for all children individually, we have at 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 65 

least learned to recognize the variation of emphasis at dif- 
ferent stages as a leading principle of co-ordination; and 
some of these periods are certainly quite well established. 
We may, for instance, justly lay special stress upon the 
acquisition of the art of reading at the age of nine; upon 
literature and extensive collateral reading at the age of 
twelve and upward. We shall have occasion to refer to 
other centers of energy in another chapter. These centers 
of energy will determine what has been called the "core" 
of study at the different periods. 

It is beyond doubt that the kind of co-ordination here sug- 
gested will have a distinct ethical effect, altho we may not 
select the so-called "Gesinnungsstoffe", or ethico-religious 
subjects, such as literature, history, and the Bible, to form 
the central "core" around which the others would have to 
be grouped, as the Herbart-Ziller school of educationists 
had suggested. The most effective element of school in- 
struction will be found in the principle of co-ordination it- 
self, with its tendency to unify all instructional factors into 
an organic whole, so that, in the child's mind, there be pro- 
duced what German thinkers call "Totalanschauung" 
(unity of conception, as well as conception of the world as 
a whole, or unity). The principal agent in this process of 
unification must be the teacher in whose own mind the idea 
of unity must reign supreme, and who must be able to pro- 
duce in the child's mind a consciousness of the right rela- 
tions, a totality of concept, in which all individual elements, 
percepts, impulses, sentiments, are arranged in an order not 
only logical but ethical. This cannot be accomplished by 
the practice of the old school which undertook to pour a 
vast amount of information into the child in order to give 
him what was supposed he needed ; nor according to the 
Socratic idea that the teacher should simply make the child 
conscious of what he really knows — for he does not "know" 
anything — : but by simply directing the child and creating 
such conditions for him that he can find the truth and the 
higher law, which is the same in the world of objects as it is 
in the field of ethics, by his own effort and activity. Self- 
activity of the child is the key-note of this scheme of co- 
ordination. 



CHAPTER IV 

The Physical Side of Education 

WHATEVER may be our conception of the 
nature of the human being — whether we con- 
sider mind and body as one, the mental and 
the physical manifestations representing merely 
two different aspects of the same thing, or one 
being the function of the other, in reciprocal relation (mon- 
ism) ; or whether we understand them as two different ele- 
ments, or principles, belonging to different worlds, one ma- 
terial and the other spiritual, and being governed by differ- 
ent sets of laws (dualism) : this fact will be recognized by all 
that there is a close relation between body and mind, a mu- 
tuality of dependence which is becoming more and more un- 
derstood and scientifically determined. Bain says: "The 
organ of mind is not the brain by itself; it is the brain, 
nerves, muscles, organs of sense, and viscera." 

It is now well known among educators and alienists that 
mental and moral disorders and defects are often but symp- 
toms, or effects of disease. It will therefore commend itself 
to teachers and supervisors to watch pupils carefully as to 
abnormal developments for the purpose of forestalling, or at 
least recognizing, disease signs. Every teacher ought to learn 
to make a simple diagnosis of common children's troubles, 
and to be versed in the conditions and factors of normal and 
abnormal child growth; and regularly appointed school 
physicians should assist them in this respect. Each school 
should be supervised in a systematic way by such physicians, 
some of whom ought to be specialists of different kinds, and 
all of whom ought to have a particular familiarity with pe- 

66 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 67 

diatrics. A careful and complete system of educational child 
study, such as should be organized in every school, will in- 
clude physical measurements and examinations at regular in- 
tervals. 

In some larger school systems some such organization 
has already taken place, and in some instances there is a sys- 
tematic co-operation with the Boards of Health. But a com- 
plete organization such as the author has in mind, has not 
yet been established anywhere. And it is a matter of his- 
torical interest, perhaps, that the first complete system of this 
kind in this country at least, was inaugurated during the 
author's superintendency in the "Workingman's School", later 
called the "Ethical Culture School" of New York City, as 
early as the year 1892. A full description is contained in the 
author's little book, "A Working System of Child Study for 
Schools" (C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, 1897) t0 which refer- 
ence is here made for details. 

Here it may suffice to say that the child's physical history, 
his hereditary and environmental conditions, were ascertained 
as far as possible as soon as the pupil entered the school. A 
regular system of body measurements and examinations fol- 
lowed the child up from year to year. 

The advantages of such investigations are patent and mani- 
fold. They enable physicians and school authorities to dis- 
cover incipient diseases, and to militate against the spread 
of contagious and infectious maladies. Much of subnormal 
and abnormal deviation and derailment can be traced to its 
first causes, and occasionally checked, or at least placed under 
proper observation. 

Infectious diseases are fraught with danger not merely 
by their immediate presence, but also by the injurious after- 
effects which follow in their wake. There is consequently 
need of careful control, and even rigid measures may have to 
be insisted upon, on the part of the school authorities, even 
tho they may find parents, and at times even their family 
physicians, disinclined to submit to the inconvenience which 
is caused by quarantine precautions. 

Other troubles needing careful and conscientious watching, 
and often producing serious effects on the mental and moral 



68 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

condition of the pupils, are eye, ear, throat, and nose defects. 
Impaired vision is responsible for much seeming inefficiency 
in the school room, as is likewise weakness of hearing which 
is frequently caused by adenoid vegetations in the nasal- 
pharingeal passages. Mouth-breathers can be readily recog- 
nized by their more or less stupid expression. Inflamed eyes 
are often infectious. A watchful study and conscientious con- 
sideration of these ailments will be very helpful in discipline, 
as they are the cause of much aberration from the straight 
and narrow path of what is styled "good conduct." More of 
this will be said in the chapter on discipline. 

The reformative value of physical training has been fully 
demonstrated in the treatment of the delinquent classes. 
Physical exercise and activity are a valuable means in treat- 
ing defects even of a seeming moral nature, and will some- 
times brighten up a brain whose functions were thought to be 
dull. It is a common experience even of adults that a change 
of occupation, particularly a change from mental to physical 
activity, relieves weariness and effects a restoration of the 
mental powers. Fresh air has proved itself a wonderful 
remedy for obstreperousness and ugliness of temper. 

This suggests the necessity of hygienic measures of precau- 
tion for the purpose of forestalling distressing developments. 
As a complete chapter will be devoted to hygienic suggestions, 
it will suffice here to give a brief survey of the requirements. 
Many of the measures to be reckoned under this head are 
of course dependent upon the conditions of the home life 
of the children, and are but indirectly under the control of 
the teacher or school authority. It is mandatory, then, that 
efforts be made to establish a closer connection between home 
and school, so that parents may be induced to listen to the 
advice of professional educators and physicians in matters 
touching the privacy of their homes, as long as they refer to 
the educational environment of the children. Parents' meet- 
ings, school and visiting nurses, and similar agencies, have 
already been arranged for in some places to bring about such 
a closer contact and co-operation. 

First of the conditions of healthy child life is proper 
nutrition. What kind of food, and what quantity, children 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 69 

should have at different periods of their lives, requires not 
only a great deal of common sense, but of scientific research. 
Students of pediatrics have devoted much time to this re- 
search. The problem of school lunches is such an important 
one that in some places the schools have undertaken to furnish 
lunches, the composition of which is made the object of much 
painstaking study. Few parents have as yet given this ques- 
tion its full share of attention. Insufficiency of nourishing 
food is one of the most ordinary causes not only of physical, 
but also, and largely, of mental and moral disturbance, and 
even abnormality. Malnutrition (insufficient breakfasts, for 
instance) is at the bottom of most of the "school headaches", 
improperly so called. 

Cleanliness is the second prerequisite of normal work. 
Cleanliness of the body and cleanliness of the clothing, of 
the bed the child sleeps in, of the rooms, at home and in 
school. It may not be clear to everybody that the skin has 
an essential function in the process of assimilation and nutri- 
tion so that cleanliness is really an accessary to food. Bath- 
ing, its frequency, time, and nature, is a subject which should 
receive much care. In the schools there should be ample pro- 
visions for cleaning, ventilating and washing. School baths 
have been introduced in many cities abroad and in some of 
this country. Those who have no experience in this matter 
would possibly be surprised to see the difference it makes in 
the alertness and attention of pupils whether they had their 
bath or not. Sending a listless child under the shower bath 
recommends itself in many instances as a much more rational 
measure of discipline than to send him to the principal's 
office for punishment. 

The matter of rest and sleep is another factor of enormous 
influence. Children are not infrequently kept up too late at 
night, partly from over-indulgence, because our little ones 
like it only too well to imitate the evening hours of their 
elders; partly as a result of the objectionable custom of tak- 
ing children out to parties and amusements when they ought 
to be in bed. Again, there is pernicious overburdening of 
pupils with home work, or with home duties of various 
kinds; teachers and parents are jointly responsible for this 



70 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

abuse. 

The effects of hygienic neglect are designated as fatigue. 
Fatigue, then, must be understood as being caused not only 
by lack of rest, or by overwork ; malnutrition and absence of 
cleanliness are just as responsibe for it. It produces serious 
mental results which mean, broadly speaking, a "relapse 
into the animal method of non-reasoning." The human be- 
ing ceases to be rational when under the effect of fatigue; 
it is plain that children, having less power of resistance than 
adults, suffer particularly from these conditions. Every ef- 
fort, long enough continued, or indulged in too intensely, 
produces fatigue. Interesting investigations have been made 
in regard to the fatigue values of the different school studies. 
The daily program of exercises must therefore be carefully 
planned in order to balance the pupils' powers of application. 
Forenoon and afternoon work must differ in character, as 
surely the different hours of the day have different energy 
values for the children, individually and collectively. Re- 
cesses should be systematically distributed to afford relief and 
recreation at the proper junctures; the length of the instruc- 
tion periods must be adjusted to the fatigue values of the 
studies referred to before. A change of employment, altho 
generally having the function of relief, is not in every case 
recreative. 

Fatigue, it ought to be noted, is often due, not to over- 
strain or hygienic neglect, but to poor training. It will 
manifest itself when children have not learned the best 
method of applying themselves. When there is a lack of 
interest and inspiration, there will be ready fatigue. More 
frequently, of course, fatigue follows over-exertion. A ten- 
sion of the attention and energy which may even succeed in 
overcoming the first stage of fatigue and in calling forth 
what has been denominated "second breath", will end in a 
still more serious collapse.* 

There are several definite signs that can be observed as 
indicating fatigue, no matter by what this fatigue may have 



*Cf. G. E. Partridge, "Second Breath", Pedagogical Seminary 
IV, 3- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 71 

been caused. An enumeration of these, as given by Edward 
D. Meek some time ago, may not be useless for the teacher. 
They are as follows: 

Physical fatigue: (i) Angles of mouth depressed; (2) 
furrows across forehead; (3) eyes wandering; (4) colora- 
tion beneath the eyes; (5) white line around the mouth; 
(6) bluish spots on cheeks and neck; (7) pulse unusually 
slow or rapid; (8) frequent attacks of headache; (9) awk- 
ward position of body; (10) neurasthenic voice; (11) un- 
natural action; (12) general appearance of depression. 

Mental fatigue: (1) Lack of ability to give attention; 
(2) weakening of perception; (3) unreadiness and inaccur- 
acy of judgment; (4) diminished power of insight; (5) 
loss of sensitiveness; (6) lack of self-control; (7) lessened 
work-rate; (8) lengthened reaction time; (9) deep sense 
of misery in the morning; (10) one or more insistent ideas 
which cannot be thrown off. 

Lack of exercise, sedentary habits, are just as apt to les- 
sen the vitality, producing a kind of chronic fatigue, as is 
over-stimulation. Girls in the pubescent period suffer par- 
ticularly from too sedentary and confining a life. 

This consideration alone would prove the great value of 
physical exercise, and of excursions and walks in connection 
with nature, geography, and history work, even if these had 
no claim as excellent methodical devices. And the demand 
for manual training, apart from its tremendous importance 
educationally, as set forth in the previous chapter, also has 
its function as healthy bodily exercise. The recreative and 
inspiring effect of games, gymnastics, and vocal music are 
very evident in this connection. The value of rhythm, and 
of rhythmical movements, has been touched upon before. 
This element will enhance and stimulate all physical exer- 
cise. 

A factor which cannot be too often urged as operating in 
a marked degree against the natural vitality of children, is 
the dull routine of the schoolroom over which a mechanical 
teacher presides. Monotonous lessons, over-exacting exer- 
cises, tedious repetitions make a naturally bright child fa- 
tigued and dull. Add to this overheated and ill-ventilated 



72 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

rooms, improper and ill-fitting furniture, vicious methods in 
writing, sewing and other handwork, and you have a com- 
bination of evil influences militating against the natural im- 
pulses of the child. 

A very pronounced difference has been observed in the 
rate of growth of city school children during the summer 
vacation months, as compared with the growth during the 
nine or ten months of school; these children gain as much 
during the summer as they do the rest of the year. While 
perhaps the summer temperature may increase slightly the 
metabolism of the children, it cannot be denied that the un- 
natural restraint to which they are subjected during school 
time, has much to do with this remarkable difference. For 
with children who live under natural conditions all the year 
around, the very opposite condition has been observed. With 
them there is a minimum growth during the summer months, 
and they are even apt to lose during this time the amount 
of weight they had acquired during the middle period which 
lasts from about April to June or July. The maximum 
period when the child accumulates the increment in weight 
which is to last him for the year, covers naturally the winter 
months. 

As early as in the year 1897, Dr. Townsend Porter has 
shown by most interesting investigations that the growth 
periods of a child are intimately connected with his men- 
tal evolution. He demonstrated that children nearest to the 
average weight of their age are to be found a class higher 
than they are supposed to be according to the artificial stand- 
ard. He also found precocious children to be taller as well 
as heavier than dull children. Successful children have 
larger chests than the unsuccessful. The width of the head, 
or distance from one parietal eminence to the other, meas- 
ured with calipers, is also greater in more advanced pupils 
than in those less advanced. He thought that no child whose 
weight is below the average of his age should be permitted 
to enter a school grade beyond the average of his age, ex- 
cept after such a physical examination as shall make it prob- 
able that the child's strength shall be equal to the strain. 
It was also shown by him that the normal age for each 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 73 

"school grade" was about a year higher than the traditional 
standard, which goes to prove that this standard is artificial, 
unjust and consequently injurious. 

Recent investigations in New York have led to a dis- 
crimination between what may be called the "chronological 
age", and the "physiological age" which is determined not 
by the number of years a child has to his record, but by the 
degree of physical maturity. (Dr. C. Ward Crampton). To 
this distinction we may add the other of psy etiological matur- 
ity. The mental and moral development of a child is by no 
means parallel to his "chronological" or "physiological" age, 
in every instance. But the proper grading of a child depends 
naturally upon all these factors. 

It is clear, then, that these growth periods, in the indi- 
vidual children, must be carefully observed. Regular meas- 
urements, accompanied by physiological and psychological 
tests, will render the opportunity. 

In regard to a proper application of the data obtained, 
we must first consider what must be avoided to prevent 
unwholesome influences, arrest of development, interference 
with normal growth, etc. Let us remember that, while exer- 
cise stimulates growth, too much of it has a stunting ef- 
fect. The tall races are the conquering ones, and pigmy 
tribes and dwarfed children show the effect of lessened vi- 
tality, or relentless drudgery. Then again, we ought to 
be very clear as to where stimulation and exercise are 
needed, in what degree, and of what kind. 

A few facts may here be mentioned, by way of introduc- 
tion to the subject. The years from six to nine require ex- 
ercises exciting growth. Joyful, simple games are all that 
is needed, none that strain a small number of muscles, but 
such as give full play to the central movements of the 
whole body. There must be ample opportunity for such 
exercise; forcing the children of these tender years to stand 
or sit still for any length of time implies an intense strain. 
If we further remember that at the age of 8, the brain 
reaches almost its full weight, we shall understand why now 
the period of choreatic attacks begins, a period which may 
also be called the fatigue period. This period has been de- 



74 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

scribed as one in which the anomaly of a dilated heart oc- 
curs in children, with evidence of cardiac incompetence, 
such as shortness of breath and readiness of fatigue. This 
critical period is fraught with danger, as it is quite insidi- 
ous in its approach. Physical and mental fatigue signs are 
both present, and the child, instead of needing more exercise 
as some may be inclined to think, should be given oppor- 
tunity for lying fallow and conserving his strength. Ap- 
plied to the work of the school at this stage, it should be 
diminished temporarily, in quantity as well as in intensity. 

It may be assumed that this manifestation of weakness in 
the child has its cause in the fact stated before, that the 
brain has now attained almost its full weight and that the 
functional development begins which draws a large share 
of the blood supply to the nervous system thus taxing the 
heart more than before and depleting somewhat the vital 
organs. And during the period of transition the nervous 
system is naturally more sensitive to injurious influences 
than at other times. 

The years from nine to sixteen are the period of most 
rapid growth in height and weight. Again, exercises excit- 
ing growth are well adapted to this age, and the aim must be 
to co-ordinate motion and emotion. A well-poised carriage and 
a control over the body in general and its movements, mak- 
ing these expressive and rhythmic, will be the result. Tac- 
tics and calisthenics are most appropriate at this period, but 
care is necessary to avoid exhaustion as the power of resist- 
ance is yet low. 

The new forces which mark the dawn of puberty are now 
manifesting themselves, and the racial and national instincts, 
reverberations of the early history of the special branch of 
humanity from which the individual has sprung, now force 
themselves into the foreground and give to the age of adoles- 
cence the character of adventure and conquest. The chil- 
dren delight in forming predatory societies, in teasing and 
bullying. The primitive instinct of exultation of victory 
leads the pubescent boys to give the impression of having 
lost all sense of sympathy and charity; and the practical 
jokes, so much indulged in at this stage, are relics of the 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 75 

spirit of primordial warfare and torture.* 

Athletic games which symbolize these tendencies and make 
them harmless, will serve as a safety valve. 

The year from n to 12 inaugurates the perfection of the 
muscular system. Games of skill at this period will afford 
training in muscular quickness. This is also the age when 
sexual differentiation sets in. 

Girls have a period of maximum growth from 1 1 to 12 
years of age. In boys, the antero-posterior diameter of the 
chest reaches, at the age of 12, double the width it was at 
birth. Boys differentiate so as to represent the katabolic, 
energy expending, masculine type; girls assert their fem- 
ininity by the anabolic, energy conserving quality of their na- 
ture. Boys of 12 exhibit fighting tendencies; their interest 
changes from playful symbolism to bold realities. They brave 
danger; they organize in "gangs"; they are hero-worshippers 
and follow readily a leader if they cannot themselves be 
leaders. Rough games and strength-trying athletics stand 
foremost in their minds. They are so conscious of the ad- 
vantages of masculinity that they have little patience or ad- 
miration towards girls. In opposition to this exhibition of 
ancient tribal instincts on the part of the male sex of 12 
years of age, the girls of the same age develop subjective ten- 
dencies. They become sensitive mimosae and indulge in what 
is called the "proprieties", sometimes to a morbid degree of 
excess. Sentimental friendships take with them the place of 
the boys' hero-worship. Their tendency is towards grace- 
fulness in exercise, and poise in vigor. 

At 13, two years later than the girls, the boys have their 
maximum of growth. Still endurance games, such as mile 
run, tug of war, football, should be avoided as they involve 
too great a strain for the imperfectly developed organs of 
the child of this age. Apparatus work, intricate ball games 
and other games of alertness will prove valuable at this time. 
Similar- exercises, toned down to graceful proportions, will 



^President Stanley Hall and his school of investigators have 
furnished much of the material from which these conclusions 
are drawn. 



76 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

satisfy the needs of the girls at this period who reach now 
their maturity in rapidity of movement. 

The years from 14 to 20 are, for the boys, the period of 
physical development par excellence. There is now a strong 
activity of the vital organs, heart and lungs, to be observed, 
which manifests itself in a high degree of skill, daring and 
courage. Yet, before the end of this period, endurance games 
would still involve a great amount of risk ; high school foot- 
ball teams are really an anomaly. The maximum of strength 
and endurance is reached at the age of 20 or 21 — an age 
designated by ancient usage as the age of "majority". 

The girls are considerably less vigorous at this stage of 
their life. There is a rapid falling off in the growth rate, and 
the girls are more apt to contract disease now than at any 
other time, so that this epoch in their development may fitly 
be called the disease-period. Yet, there is also rapid increase 
in strength, while with the boys this occurs a year later. It 
is interesting to note, however, how weight and vitality pro- 
gress along parallel lines. 

From the foregoing, the function of gymnastics in educa- 
tion will be plainly intelligible. Gymnastics is a collective 
term, including all such exercises in physical training as per- 
tain to a healthy and poised development of the body as a 
substratum of the mind, or, if one prefers, of the body as a 
ready tool of the spirit. It purports a harmonious develop- 
ment in proportion to physical and mental growth, and min- 
isters to the various and varying demands of this growth. 
Its outward result manifests itself in a proper carriage and 
control in all positions of the body, in sitting, walking, 
standing, and in the performance of all its functions. It 
means, finally, complete self-control with reference to the 
physical factors of human life. 

Sports and athletics can only be considered a part of a 
complete system of physical training, and are embraced in 
the term "gymnastics". Taken separately they can never 
suffice or take the place of a full-rounded course in gymnas- 
tics. Sportsmen and athletes are specialists, and their train- 
ing has little of genuine educational features. Particularly 
one-sided is military drill which has sometimes been suggested 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 77 

as a fit exercise for school children. Exercises of a "military" 
character may have a place at certain stages in a complete 
physical curriculum ; but their scope is narrow, and their ten- 
dency of doubtful ethical significance. It may prove helpful 
only at the stage when primitive instincts manifest themselves 
in the adolescent boy, and it requires careful handling so as 
not to perpetuate those brutal impulses and to elevate them 
to the dignity of a patriotic ideal. 

Physical training ought to be regulated by individual con- 
ditions, particularly weight, and not by school grades, arti- 
ficial as these are usually organized. The pupils of a school, or 
even of an entire school system, should rather be taken in sec- 
tions, carefully grouped on the basis of measurements and 
examinations. 

It is hardly necessary to emphasize the need of open air 
gymnasia to supplement the indoor halls for gymnastic exer- 
cise. And there ought to be a generous proportion of games 
included. These should be graduated, to follow the leading 
interests and needs at different stages of child development, 
and would include dramatic impersonations. Certain games 
derive their educational value from the fact that they assist 
the child in working off primitive instincts, which must make 
room for higher civilisatory impulses, by a "lopping off" 
process, as it has been called. 

Playgrounds, open all day to the children for exercise, will 
supplement the systematic work of the school. To make these 
educationally valuable, they must be under the direction and 
supervision of trained teachers. 

The general tendency of a well-organized system of phys- 
ical education is all-aroundness, symmetry; the final aim is 
power, vigor, self-control. There is, then, a very de- 
cided ethical element in physical training when it is rightly 
understood, and it assists to a marvellous extent in the train- 
ing of the will. 

The physical side of education is as essential a part of the 
general scheme of a co-ordinated course of study as the 
scholastic part, and it pertains to the realization of the ancient 
motto: "Mens Sana in Corpore Sana" 



CHAPTER V 

A Rational Course of Study 
A . 

IT is not intended to present in this chapter an outline of 
a rational course of instruction in detail, but to sug- 
gest the consideration of the principles which ought to 
determine the selection and arrangement of the instruc- 
tional elements. Some of the details have already been 
alluded to in previous chapters, and more will be submitted 
for consideration in the following sections. 

The first question which presents itself to us would be, 
it seems: Is a course of study, as one is generally under- 
stood, a necessity, or can a school do without it? Pesta- 
lozzi, at Burgdorf, worked without a course of study, and 
yet his work meant an educational revolution. But surely he 
had a well-defined plan, or purpose, in his mind which regu- 
lated and articulated the details of his daily routine, if there 
was such ; and the creative genius of the man was equal to 
the task of adjusting himself momentarily to the exigencies 
of individual situations. If every teacher were a creative 
genius, and if any given set of co-workers in a school could 
work in harmony by intuition, an outline of the work in 
hand would not be so necessary. On the other hand, if a 
written and formulated course degenerates into a formal, me- 
chanical thing; when it becomes a straight- jacket which pre- 
vents freedom of movement; when it is the embodiment of 
punctilious rules and prescriptions, edicts and directions, for- 
mulas of formalities of "methods" and devices: it will 
surely prove itself an obstruction in the way of rational edu- 

78 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 79 

cation. A course of study, intended for the development of 
the growing minds of living children, must itself be a living, 
growing organism. It must not check, but encourage the 
originality and spontaneity of the teacher. Teachers dif- 
fer in attitude and capacity; classes differ likewise, and a 
"fourth grade" of one year may not easily be compared with 
the same grade of the previous term. There must be oppor- 
tunity for adjustment; there must be elasticity. The same 
object can be accomplished by various means, and what is 
impossible for one person is a matter of course with another. 
A course of study ought therefore to have the character of 
an outline to be filled in, rather than of a detailed, cast-iron 
prescription. It must be suggestive rather than authorita- 
tive. If the director of a school, or of a school system, is 
really a "director", and not merely a figure-head, or a 
pedantic crank, he will find little difficulty in articulating 
the spontaneous work of intelligent teachers within the limits 
of a suggestive course. 

The second fundamental question would be: What must 
be the aim of a rational course of study? The answer to 
this question, surely, depends upon the answer to another: 
What is the meaning of education, notably school education ? 
To avoid a lengthy discussion of this question which has been 
answered quite differently by different persons and at differ- 
ent times, the author may be permitted to suggest his own 
answer at once. In his estimation the purpose of educational 
efforts is threefold: First, to mediate to the young the ex- 
perience of the race; second, to minister to the perfection of 
our race; third, to place each individual in a position that he 
may work out his own salvation and destiny in his own in- 
dividual best way. 

If this definition is accepted, the aim of a course of in- 
struction would also present a threefold aspect. There 
should be: 

(1) Information and experience; 

(2) Training and exercise; 

(3) Individual tests, universality of opportunity, and 
freedom of expression. 

The ultimate aim would appear to be the development of 



80 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

power and character in the individual. 

Tht traditional course of study clung to the "three R's", 
and such things as geography, history, music, drawing, gym- 
nastics, sewing, shop work, nature work, were only admit- 
ted after a long and painful struggle. At present, an or- 
dinary program looks pretty full. Teachers sigh whenever 
a new suggestion is made because it means new effort, more 
time; or less time to the old branches, and yet the same 
amount of work, or "results", seems to be demanded as 
before. 

How can this difficulty be adjusted? 

A review of the chapter on the "Principles of Co-ordina- 
tion" will give the clue. 

In the first place, by eliminating unessential details from 
the curriculum. The restriction of the school work to a 
few branches has given occasion to dwelling too much on 
details, and this detail work is yet haunting our minds, be- 
ing mistaken as indispensable when it can only too readily 
be dispensed with. Spelling, grammar, and arithmetic have 
been veritable fetiches. Even at the present enlightened age, 
some schools which enjoy an enviable reputation endeavor 
to teach spelling by obliging their pupils to commit page af- 
ter page from a dictionary to memory, with all the defini- 
tions and variations. The spelling of a vast number of un- 
interesting, unintelligible and unusual words, for the sake 
of "drill", is still a common practice in many schools. Then 
there is the attempt to inculcate a knowledge of grammati- 
cal relations in the minds of children whose power to think 
in abstract forms is only budding. The result is an accumu- 
lation of dead matter in the memory, which is less than 
worthless for the development of correct manners of speech. 
Of these things, and of the senseless practices in arithmetic, 
there will be occasion to say more in the chapters devoted 
to these disciplines. There is great need of a radical sim- 
plification of the course in these branches, as well as in some 
others, notably penmanship. Exhaustive thoroness within 
what appear to the adult mind "elementary" limits is be- 
yond the possibility of the child. 

The second requirement of adjustment is a proper distri- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 81 

button of the work so that the different parts may be intro- 
duced at times when there is least friction and resistance 
in the assimilating process within the brain, when there is an 
awakening interest. In a later part of this chapter the 
nascent periods, and the culture epochs, will be discussed 
more fully. Let us here illustrate what a proper distribu- 
tion means by referring briefly to the waste of time caused 
by a too early introduction of the arts of reading and writ- 
ing. That reading and writing are identical with "learn- 
ing" in the minds of still too many, has often been brought 
home to the author by the question almost regularly asked 
of him when he suggested to teachers the omission of these 
two branches in the primary grades, postponing them to 
perhaps the third. "But what else can we teach?" was the 
puzzling problem confronting the amazed pedagogs. And 
parents who wanted their children promoted from the kin- 
dergarten to the primary so that they would "learn some- 
thing", had the same perplexed attitude when an attempt 
was made to argue with them. 

Children of six or seven years of age are far-sighted, and 
the fine adjustment to the requirements of the printed page 
are directly injurious. Then there is the evident lack of 
muscular control in eye and hand at this stage, in both read- 
ing and writing. In writing, this lack of control has long 
suggested the use of slates in the primaries. There have 
been schools where the pupils were hardly ever allowed to 
outgrow the slate stage for rapid practice at any time. And 
yet, few things were more injurious than slates. They make 
a heavy hand, and cause a waste of time in after years 
for the pupils and acquire a fair degree of fluency in 
writing. Of the hygienic objections to the use of slates, 
most teachers ought now be thoroly convinced. Penman- 
ship ought not to require much time; if a rational system is 
used, it may be considered almost incidental. The intro- 
duction of simplified forms, either vertical or with a "modi- 
fied" slant, has already done much toward a solution of the 
problem of teaching penmanship without undue sacrifice of 
time. 

This reflection suggests the third requirement of adjust 



82 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

ment: better methods of presentation. With regard to 
these, the following considerations offer themselves: 

There must first be the recognition and construction of 
an apperceptive basis. We must ascertain what the chil- 
dren know and think, what concepts were formed in their 
minds before they were handed to our care, so that we may 
build upon a sure and safe foundation. As said before, we 
take too many things for granted in this respect. Even the 
simplest things are often unknown, or imperfectly known, 
to young children. Dr. K. Lange's experiments in the 
schools of Saxony revealed the following facts: 

Per Cent, of 
City Chil- Country 



(i 

(2 

(3 
(4 
(5 
(6 
(7 
(8 

(9 
(io 

( IJ 

(l2 

('13 

(i4 
(15 
(16 

(i7 



Question or Concept: dren. Children. 

Seen the sun rise 18 42 

Seen the sun set 23 58 

Seen the moon and the stars 84 82 

Seen and heard a lark 20 70 

Seen fish swimming wild 72 83 

Been to a pond 51 86 

Been to a brook or river 71 82 

Been on high hill or mountain .... 48 74 

Been in a forest 63 86 

Know an oak 18 57 

Seen a corn or wheat field 64 92 

Know how bread comes from grain. 28 63 

Seen a shoemaker at work 79 80 

Seen a carpenter at work 55 62 

Seen a mason at work 86 92 

Been in a church 50 49 

Know aught of God 51 66 



Discoveries of this character may be easily made on this 
side of the water, and in every school of the country. And 
the results are very helpful. They show that not in any 
one instance were all the children informed about the sim- 
ple concept referred to in the question, the highest per cent, 
in any case being 92 ; in many cases the percentage of ignor- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 83 

ance is so surprising that it will set many a teacher a think- 
ing. And again, the influence of the environment is clearly 
seen ; upon the impressions rendered by the immediate early 
environment depends largely what we have learnt to call the 
apperceptive basis. How true this is can be demonstrated 
in many ways. In visiting the schools of a Western town 
some time ago, I invited the pupils of the primary classes of 
different buildings to draw for me a tree. The pupils in an 
outlying district drew, almost to a man, pine trees; those 
living within the town, ordinary foliage trees. The school- 
house in the outlying district was surrounded by lofty pines, 
and the concept "tree" was, in the minds of these children, 
intimately connected with this experience — a pine tree was 
the tree for them. The trees in the town itself were shade 
trees, and furnished a different basis for conceptual recogni- 
tion and reference. 

In Berlin, some years ago, in a similar investigation, the 
children in the primary grades of the schools were asked 
whether they knew what a mountain was. Now, the capital 
of Germany is situated in a plain absolutely devoid of eleva- 
tions. The nearest approach to a hill within the limits of 
the city is a sandmound complimentarily appellated "Kreuz- 
berg" on top of which there is a soldiers' monument. It 
caused no surprise to discover that the children whose con- 
cept of a mountain had been built on the sand of this mound, 
defined a mountain as being an elevation "with a monument 
on top". The monument was considered a necessary requi- 
site of a mountain, as it had been religiously connected with 
the first formation of this concept in their young minds. 

Then, even when children answer a certain question, as, 
for instance, "Have you seen a cow?" in the affirmative, it 
does not prove that they state a fact in our sense of the 
word. It may happen that in reply to the next question, 
"How big is a cow?" they will tell you all sizes from that of 
a butterfly to that of an elephant. They may have seen but 
a picture of a cow. The distinction between pictures and 
real things is not readily made in childhood ; and to infer 
from the scale of a picture the actual size of an object is 
not an easy matter for minds untrained in the experience of 



84 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

ratio and proportion. 

Besides taking into account the apperceptive basis which is 
already there, we must see to it that for all the new concepts 
which we desire to mediate, we build up another appropriate 
foundation. This alone will enable the child to advance in 
mastering the world around him conceptually, and to assim- 
ilate the wealth of new impressions which await him. In 
this process we shall do well to remember that the child is 
apt to employ the rudimentary logical method of analogy to 
connect later facts with previous experiences. This method 
often leads to curious mistakes, and it is only the very watch- 
ful teacher who will successfully avoid the shoals and rocks 
of false analogies. This amusing anecdote will illustrate the 
point: The governess was giving little Tommy a grammar 
lesson the other day. "An abstract noun", she said, "is the 
name of something which you can think of but not touch. 
Can you give an example?" Tommy: "A red-hot poker." 

In this apperceptive process the maxims quoted in the chap- 
ter on co-ordination assume their full significance: 

From the known to the unknown; 

From the simple to the complex; 

From the concrete to the abstract. 

From the concrete material in the immediate environment 
of the child, from the images of his own house and lawn, the 
trees, hills, rocks, valleys, creeks, rivers, ponds, etc. ; of 
people he knows and occupations he sees carried on; of 
natural processes like water running down his own hill, of 
dirt washed down the watersheds of his own road, of tov 
boats floating in his gutter, etc., etc., from all this he must 
learn to construct in his mind concepts of things remote, of 
the Himalayas, the oceans, foreign people, and all the won- 
derful things that make up the life of nature and man. 
Words, names, pictures, samples of material even, maps, and 
the like, are nothing but symbols, meaningless to him unless 
he can connect them with real experiences of his own. 

It is plain then that there must be ample opportunity for 
learning the significance of the symbols mentioned. There 
must be good language teaching and a careful study of the 
meaning and the use of words; children must learn to read 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 85 

maps, drawings and pictures, which, by the way, is not quite 
so easy and convenient as it may seem. 

But it must be repeated over and over again that these 
things are after all only symbols, utterly meaningless and 
unintelligible without a knowledge of the realities for which 
they stand. It is sometimes amazing to observe how intensely 
interested even young children are sometimes in reading, and 
how they will swallow book after book, admired by their 
parents who pride themselves in the supposed cleverness of 
their children; but the question may be asked in all fairness: 
What do these children get out of the books they read ? Those 
who care to investigate will discover the vast number of ab- 
surd misconceptions and the depth of ignorance character- 
istic of children who have been allowed to juggle with sym- 
bols which had no meaning in fact to them. 

Begin, then, with the realities, with the concrete world of 
objects. Observation and experiment are the basis of expe- 
rience. Let us not confine the pupils to the four walls of the 
schoolroom. Take them on excursions to hill and forest, thru 
the city streets and along the country roads, on street cars, 
cabs and elevated trains, railroads, sailing and steam vessels, 
to shops and factories, so as to open their eyes to see, their 
ears to hear, to train all their senses to perceive keenly. Let 
us teach them to record their observations accurately, to put 
them in order, to understand their significance, to draw infer- 
ences, to form judgments. Let us give them a many-sided 
experience of this sort in order to make their apperceptive 
basis broad and strong. 

Follow this up by practical work and experiment, the learn- 
ing by doing. The school garden is an open-air laboratory; 
the shop, an accessory to the science room. In the class room, 
the studio, and the laboratories, let the children reproduce 
the objects of knowledge, mechanically, in manual training; 
and artistically, with brush, pencil and in clay; and symbo- 
lize the life about them in their games, and thru the typical 
occupations representing man's conquest of nature thru mate- 
rial civilization. This latter method may be styled the dra- 
matic element in educational instruction. 

All this will build up and strengthen the apperceptive basis 



86 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

upon which the entire superstructure of knowledge and ex- 
perience is to rest. 

Another requirement of better method is individualization. 
As the apperceptive basis of one child's mind will forever 
differ from that of another, owing to the fact that their 
early environments differed, and that we can never control 
or equalize the various environmental conditions which de- 
termine their impressions and modes of thought: we shall 
find each child differently prepared for the various lines of 
thought which we desire to start in their minds ; and also dif- 
ferently interested, and eager and anxious to follow them. 
Each child, consequently, may be expected to have a different 
point of vantage. These environmental predispositions are 
re-enforced by hereditary influences which endow the chil- 
dren with various sets of talents, attitudes, and aptitudes. 
We must not, and can not, make the attempt to grind every 
child in the same mill, or try to turn out machine-made grad- 
uates who resemble mechanically the same pattern, at least 
instructionally. 

For this reason a course of study must present a great 
variety of subjects, such as will meet the various needs of dif- 
ferent child types. This demand will be better understood 
if we dismiss from our mind the old fallacy that it is the pur- 
pose of the school work to furnish a certain amount of infor- 
mation to the pupil. It has an information value, also, to 
be sure ; but this is in a way secondary ; its main purpose is 
to develop power. Considered in this light, the various 
branches of "study" appear as so many tests thru which we 
endeavor to penetrate to the souls of our pupils, each one of 
whom may have to be reached by a very particular road lead- 
ing to his individual retreat. 

Likewise, there should be elasticity in grading and re- 
quirements so as to do justice to individual aptitudes. Neither 
the non-mathematical child nor the constitutional bad speller 
ought to be kept back in the grades, on account of his pecu- 
liar disposition. Nothing is more pernicious in educational 
effort than to preserve the lock-step of promotional require- 
ments. "I have no objection to 'courses of study', in the 
sense in which the term is used," said President Nicholas 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 87 

Murray Butler once, "but I object very much to the theory 
that the child who is able to take the third step must not be 
allowed to take it because he has not taken the second. I do 
not believe in holding a child back for the sake of 'thoroness' 
or 'completeness' of the course of study. I believe the human 
mind in education should always be put at that task for 
which it is competent." 

Another consideration is this: It has often been believed 
that there is some special virtue in certain studies to develop 
the powers of the mind so as to make it apt to take up other 
studies with greater facility. This is what has been called the 
"formal value" of studies. Mathematics, specifically arith- 
metic, as far as the elementary school is concerned, and gram- 
mar, were particularly considered as having a large amount 
of "formal value." This view is largely erroneous, and it 
depends principally upon the kind of mind to determine what 
studies will have the best disciplinary effect upon its train- 
ing. Every training is preponderatingly specific. 

Thru correlation in the sense explained in chapter in, 
there is given an opportunity for making one subject fruit- 
ful in the teaching of another. Co-ordination, consequently, 
is the third requirement of improved method. 

As has been demonstrated before, co-ordination means first 
that an interrelation of the subjects taught must be estab- 
lished. For the sake of convenience, all subjects are summed 
up under collective heads. Rector Dorpfeld's first demand 
was: normality of the curriculum, i. e. the full number of 
branches. Dr. Harris, in his formulation of the Herbartian 
theory, had in mind five co-ordinate groups, as follows : ( I ) 
mathematics; (2) geography, as the elementary form of sci- 
ence; (3) literature; (4) grammar and language ; (5) his- 
tory. These systems have been strongly criticized, and the 
entire theory of co-ordination almost fell into disrepute on ac- 
count of these artificial applications of the underlying princi- 
ples, so that passivity and receptivity were considered rather 
than the child's own activity and creative power. 

It seems more rational to divide the volume of human 
knowledge which should be mediated to the child, into two 
main departments, with this understanding, however, that 



88 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

this is fundamentally a logical, not a psychological division, 
and not necessarily as such a basis of method unless it is 
"psychologized" (Dewey) ; further, that this division is not 
to be considered dogmatical, but suggestive and tentative, 
for the purpose of surveying the entire field of instruction; 
that there will be cross-references between the two depart- 
ments, that they will constantly condition one another, and 
that the two main groups as here differentiated represent 
in reality only two different aspects of the same thing. 

The interrelated scheme presents itself somewhat in this 
form: 

A. KNOWLEDGE 

(a) Environment (b) History 

Geography The Past: Man's Evolution, 

(present conditions). The Present: Contempo- 

raneous History. 
Science The Outlook: Civics, Eth- 

ics, 
(evolution and laws). American and general his- 
tory. 
Geometry Literature and art. 

(formal side of geogra- Language and languages, 
raphy). 

Mathematics is an element of knowledge pervading all 
branches (the precise cognition). 

Laboratory and constructive work is a method of acquiring 
knowledge: 

As laboratory work it pertains to environment; 

As constructive work it pertains to history ( occupations, 
development of civilization thru conquering the forces of na- 
ture) . 

B. DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-EXPRESSION 

Physical Training, including music and gymnastics, games, 
etc. ; composition ; art work ; inventive construction. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 89 

This arrangement is based upon the conception of the aim 
d function of education as submitted in the beginning of 



and function of education as 
this chapter. 

B. 

The author's second contention in regard to the applica- 
tion of the principle of co-ordination to a rational course of 
instruction was this: that we must, in distributing the ma- 
terial, follow the natural stages in the evolution of the 
child soul; in other words, that not only the "nascent peri- 
ods" for the various interests and kinds of study and work 
should be carefully watched and utilized, but that the entire 
course must be so laid out as to adjust itself as closely as 
possible to the even more basic successive "culture epochs" 
characteristic of the development of each individual child 
from primitive instincts to civilization. Dr. Stanley Hall, 
Caswell Ellis, Prof. Jackman and many others have shown 
in the past that a contemplation of these demands will demon- 
strate beyond doubt that the school grades as they are tra- 
ditionally established, on the basis of the information-idea of 
education, are altogether incommensurate to the natural order 
of the child's development. 

Two great divisions in the development of the young soul 
have already been indicated, viz., the period of symbolism 
and play, and the subsequent period of realism and work. 
For illustration: during the first period, man's typical occu- 
pations are symbolized and imitated in games; in the second, 
they are taken up realistically in the manual work, with an 
increasing degree of actuality. Again, first, even the making 
of things will have symbolical elements in it — the making 
of familiar objects on a small scale, e. g. on the dollhouse 
scale, on the play level, using a few tools only which symbo- 
lize all the rest (the knife, symbolizing all cutting and saw- 
ing instruments; the awl, representing all boring tools, etc.) ; 
in the second period, there is real work, in due proportion 
and with a variety of typical implements. 

And along another line of interest: first, there will be the 
pleasure in myths and fairy tales, representing that stage in 



90 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

human development when all the world surrounding primi- 
tive man was wonderland ; this will be fo21owed by an appre- 
ciation of cause and effect, in science and history. In the 
first stage of observation and experiment, the sand table, or 
the sand heap, and a little garden plot will supply practically 
all the needs of the child; in the second, there will be experi- 
ment in laboratories, workshops, school gardens, etc. 

This suggests the problem of the proper sequence, not so 
much of the studies as such, but of fittingly selected topics 
within the different groups of work. And it must be under- 
stood that it is not a logical sequence which is needed, in con- 
formity perhaps with some strictly scientific classification; 
but a growth sequence, one which follows biological and 
psychological data and laws. 

Thus, in following the nascent periods, we may at differ- 
ent stages have to emphasize different kinds of work, and 
omit other kinds, or carry them along with diminished effort. 

The culture epoch theory which is basic to this concep- 
tion, will here be outlined briefly as it presents itself to the 
author's mind on the strength of modern researches into 
child psychology and anthropology. 

Four periods may be distinguished in the evolution of the 
child, altho it would be hazardous to attempt the fixing of 
age limits without allowing a large amount of margin either 
way. Individuals differ in regard to the length, and even the 
perspicuity and definiteness of characteristics, of these periods ; 
and while we may recognize, in a general way, the sequence 
of evolutional manifestations, and set down, tentatively, limits 
of age for each epoch, there is no lock-step, and much individ- 
ual variation. The four periods thus distinguishable are: 

( i ) The human animal stage, up to perhaps 6 years of 
age; 

(2) The race period, from 6 to 11 ; 

(3) Differentiation of national characteristics, from 1 1 to 

15; 

(4) Evolution of individual traits proper, from 15 up. 
Let us consider the four periods a little more in detail. 
The first stage has been designated as the stage of the 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 91 

Human Animals 

It is the stage from birth to about the fifth or sixth year. 
On seeing the light, the baby, altho surely the "heir of 
ages", is just emerging from the realm of the unconscious 
to the assumption of animal functions. The human in him, 
altho it is there in potentiality, is embryonic; the infant rep- 
resents the first period of differentiation in the evolution of 
the human species, as distinguished from the lower crea- 
tion. The baby's movements are largely of the animal type, 
and even his muscular control, his intellectual activity, rudi- 
mentary as it is, and his incipient reasoning, are on the ani- 
mal level. The clinging power of the hands of infants has 
often been commented upon; it reminds us of the arboreal 
life of the immediate ancestors of the human race, perhaps 
of the "missing link", and surely of the first stages of human 
life. The baby is born with a "monkey thumb" ; the humani- 
zation of the thumb, that is to say the power to set it op- 
posite the other fingers, is a later development. The move- 
ments are pre-eminently reflex in character, without the inter- 
vention of the conscious brain levels; they are controlled 
by the spinal chord, and represent the muscular activity 
earliest acquired by the animal creation and perpetuated in 
the form of stereotyped instincts. These movements con- 
cern the body as a whole, and the limbs as wholes. Kick- 
ing, dropping, digging, piling, are among the movements of 
this group. 

Gradually, certain lower parts of the brain itself come 
into activity. The years from one to three contain, it has 
been shown, the greater part of all education, taking educa- 
tion in its broadest sense. For in these few years, the funda- 
mental habits of activity are acquired, on the basis of in- 
herited animal instincts. The pre-human, and primitive 
human periods comprise the longest epoch in the develop- 
ment of civilization compared with which later civilized 
life itself is but an episode as yet; no wonder that the cor- 
responding epoch in the child's life is basic, and pregnant 
with formative elements. 

The reflex habits of obedience, cleanliness, truthfulness, 



92 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

etc., are now acquired and fixed. As habits, these faculties 
have no ethical significance; but unless the foundation of 
the well-regulated life is now laid in the forms of fixed 
modes of conduct, the character of the individual will for- 
ever lack the element of stability. But it needs no argu- 
ment to show that these "virtuous" habits are after all not 
yet human, but animal in kind. 

This contention must not be misunderstood. The baby 
is, notwithstanding all that has here been said, a human be- 
ing, differentiated as such even before birth, and having a 
human organism, a human brain, etc. Thus, all these de- 
velopments, altho they are on the animal level, appear in 
human form, with human modifications and with adapta- 
tions to the human environment into which the child is 
born. 

At the age of fifteen months, the child has been called 
"mentally the equal of the mature ape." But there is 
one particular instinct which even at this early stage differ- 
entiates the baby from the animal world: the language in- 
stinct asserts itself in the second year of his life, even earlier. 
It becomes evident in the baby's tendency to "name" every- 
thing he comes in contact with, imitating, even tho imper- 
fectly, the names he hears, or even inventing name 
words of his own choosing. There is an interesting parallel 
between this naming period of the baby, and the Paradise 
story which relates how "God . . . brought every beast 
of the field, and every fowl of the air unto Adam to see what 
he would call them : and whatsoever Adam called every living 
creature, that was the name thereof." (Genesis 2, 19). 
This shows that even the early records of man's dominion 
on earth recognize the "naming" of things to be the first 
evidence of intellectual awakening. 

At the age of three, the idea of "outside" and "inside", 
that is of "body" and what is "inside the body", begins to 
dawn upon the child. This indicates the awakening of the 
sense of life and of personality, and indeed, from now on, 
the child recognizes himself as a self, as an "I" in distinc- 
tion from other selves. 

The animal and primitive trait of fetich worship may be 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 93 

observed in children at this stage; dolls, curiosities of vari- 
ous kinds, playthings, etc., often appear distinctly in the 
role of fetiches. There is an element of superstition and 
fear in these early notions concerning which G. Stanley 
Hall has made investigations which may now be considered 
fundamental. The child indulges in abstruse symbols and 
develops a sort of materialistic, or rather pagan, theology. 
Even animals may be considered to have rudimentary traits 
of what may be styled religious conceptions. 

The next step in this period is the rise of free spontaneous 
imitations of adult institutions and occupations such as have 
found recognition in the kindergarten games. Even in these, 
the dramatic instinct of the children crops out with peculiar 
force. This dramatic instinct is a valuable help in the de- 
velopment of the sense of self, as different from other selves, 
by the attempt to place one's self into the position of some- 
body else, imitating him. Not only is thus the difference of 
the individual from other individuals emphasized, but surely 
an element of altruism is first introduced, inasmuch as the 
child, by thus entering into the life of others, learns to ap- 
preciate their rights. He may, in a fanciful way, even ex- 
change his personality, as it were, with that of his friends, and 
create for himself a world of reversed conditions. All this 
means to him an exploration of possibilities; and judging 
of children we must, before condemning them as prevari- 
cators and performers, take this dramatic instinct into con- 
sideration. Children are born actors, and it has been main- 
tained that great actors are essentially childlike in their 
nature. 

In a similar way, the child of this age will surround him- 
self with a number of imaginary companions. In other words, 
he will add to the real things of his environment which he 
sometimes endows with strange, fantastic qualities, creatures 
of his own imagination which have no external reality at 
all. The imaging activity of the young mind is as yet 
non-discriminating; and the limits of reality and imagery 
are indistinct. 

In the counting period, which follows the naming period, 
the child rises to a clearer conception of values and propor- 



94 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

tion. Primitive counting is bound up with objects, and based 
upon the sense of rhythm in movement and sequence, and 
gradually extends to the appreciation of the harmonious ar- 
rangement of groups which are numerically identical. The 
mathematical concept, then, is of later nascency than the lingu- 
istic* The counting period, covering the age from about 
five to seven, and indicating the dawn of precise cognition, 
also marks the transition to the next "culture epoch". 

The Race Period. 

At the age of six, or thereabouts, the race traits awaken. 
The human species differentiates itself, in the rising conscious- 
ness of each young scion of the common stock, into racial 
groups, differing from one another in consequence of influ- 
ences that shaped the various primitive types. These racial 
differences are deeply ingrained in the soul of the children, 
and manifest themselves in the order of their natural succes- 
sion. Now, the Caucasian child differentiates himself from 
the Negro; the Aryan issue from the Semitic; the Teuton 
from the Celt. There is now a gradual outgrowing of the 
stage in which crude, material symbols helped the nascent 
mind to develop the rudiments of thinking; and higher spir- 
itual symbols are evolved. Many primitive religious notions, 
such as are reverberations of racial religious lore, crop up; 
doll fetichism is merging into mythological and dogmatical 
conventions. The early race period has nothing of the demo- 
cratic spirit about it, not even in those children who represent 
races that were liberty-loving from the first; this is the age 
of submission to authority and implicit belief. 

Physically, children of this age need exercises exciting 
growth. Fingers and hands are now becoming partially free 



*More details in respect to these developments will be pre- 
sented in those of the following chapters which are devoted to 
the special topics included in the proposed scheme of instruc- 
tion. At the end of this chapter, the reader will find a partial 
list of earlier studies upon the results of which the main line 
pf this argument is based. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 95 

from the lower simultaneous impulse, and can move in a fair 
degree independently. As shown in a previous chapter, the 
development of muscular control is as follows: body, shoulder, 
arm, forearm, hand. But not before the ninth year is ma- 
turity in hand and finger control reached, and the freedom 
of the wrist movement not earlier than the eleventh. 

With the ability to handle tools, as produced by these de- 
velopments of control, goes hand in hand the increasing inter- 
est in tool work. Thru working with tools, primitive man 
created civilization and developed his mind; but not before 
man was ready for racial differentiation was there much 
chance of his being deft with tools. 

Sailing, rowing, swimming and other primitive exercises 
and occupations upon which the life of early man depended, 
excite the intensest interest in children of this period. Tag, 
and other games of this nature, reveal reverberation of the 
hunting instinct and of savage warfare. There are obvious 
nomadic inclinations: the instinct to run away and roam, the 
great interest in animals and animal pets. The wandering 
life of the early tribes which differentiated the races from 
the common stock from which they separated themselves in 
their search for new hunting grounds and fresh pastures, and 
the period of domesticating the wild creatures of prairie and 
forest are revived in these tendencies. All the actions of this 
period are impulsive and instinctive, without the intervention 
of much conscious deliberation, showing that they are mani- 
festations of hereditary influences. The children are very 
suggestible and easily impressed at this time, just as the early 
nations were plastic and open to the influences of their en- 
vironment. Environment was the most prominent factor in 
racial differentiation, and likewise the child of the correspond- 
ing period is the creature of his environment. 

A few more detailed statements about the different years of 
this period may here be added. 

At seven the speech organs have just completed their 
growth and are still pliant. The interest in names is still 
prominent. The period of from seven to eleven is the prime 
epoch for language teaching. At eight the interest in "se- 
cret", made-up languages reaches its maximum. In reasoning 



96 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

there is but the beginning of the logical process, very little 
rationalizing, in spite of the many questions into the where- 
for and how and why. The children are as a rule satisfied 
with any answer we give them. They are fond of comparing 
things as to their qualities, in this way laying in a stock of 
valuable concepts. 

In their story interest the eighth year marks a transition 
by the appearance of the question: Is it true? The mere 
fairy tale gives way to stories like Robinson Crusoe; the 
Homeric Stage is reached, and the beginning interest in his- 
tory centers in persons, leading up to true hero-worship 
at the age of pubescence. This reminds us of the age of the 
Bard and Singer at the courts of ancient kings. It must not 
be understood, however, that there is as yet, that is to say 
during the early part of the racial period, much desire to 
ascertain the actual truth; the child will still believe you 
implicitly when you tell him the story is true. 

Up to nine years there is preference for geometrical prob- 
lems and puzzles: form and size, the concrete side of things, 
mean more to them than number, or the quantitative side. 
Not until this year is passed does the interest for arithmetical 
puzzles awaken. 

The tenth year is a year of important changes, preparing 
the transition to a more advanced development. The pre- 
pubertal period begins, and the body is getting ready for new 
adaptations. It is now that a change takes place from simple 
belief to doubt and disbelief in superstitions. There is a 
pleasure noticeable in thinking out logical sequences, starting 
with the simple causative series of the order of "the house that 
Jack built". The children begin to take an interest in classi- 
fication, marking the dawn of logical categories and abstract 
thinking. The nomadic, separatistic tendencies give way to 
tribal inclinations. Boys band together in athletic game 
clubs, in predatory societies, for fishing trips, camping expedi- 
tions, etc. ; there is a pronounced interest in Indian life, ad- 
venture, peril. Games of competition are much indulged in, 
and the exultation of victory, the delight in teasing and bully- 
ing and in "practical jokes", are relics of primordial war- 
fare. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 97 

Now the national traits commence to assert themselves. At 
11 there is a maximum of predatory societies. The nation- 
making instincts stand foremost in the minds of the children. 
But it is the colonizing, conquering, adventurous epoch of 
the incipient nation which is here recapitulated. The Ger- 
manic tribes of whose modern descendants these statements 
are particularly true, were migratory tribes, and it was the 
"migration of peoples" which shaped the nations that are now 
in the lead of civilization. Hughes speaks of the age of II 
and 12 years as "the most reckless time of British youth." 

It ought to be self-evident that the traditional school 
work is less adapted to this period than to any other; and 
at no time does the child, especially the boy, hate the school 
prison more than now. This is the age of pupil-suicides. The 
fifth grade, the grade of the pre-pubertal period, is a con- 
spicuous failure in most schools. The interest of the chil- 
dren does not center in nouns and adjectives, or least com- 
mon multiples and greatest common divisors, and such 
things, but in the stories of heroes and adventure. 

Sexual differentiation in the physical life and in interest 
begins to set in. Boys, from 11 to 12, reach their maximum 
of industrial organizations; girls, from 11 to 16, have their 
counterpart in the maximum interest in social clubs. Boys 
now commence to learn the art of community-making ; girls, 
the art of home-making. 

At the age of 12, broadly speaking, 

The National Spirit 

is born. There is now a maximum of life intensity. The 
upper level of association centers and fibres in the brain 
develops ; in other words, the primordial reflex activity is be- 
coming transformed into brain function. Instead of the 
reflex responding to every impulse, or every impulse being 
directly translated into action, there is now a co-operation 
of the brain centers which serve to regulate, and occasionally 
to check, impulsive responses. Control and inhibition 
evolve; thought is born — real thought which has been 
styled by some psychologists as "repressed action." 



98 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

The organization tendency is at its height; the boys rally 
around leaders and indulge in hero-worship. In girls, the 
same tendency leads to the formation of sentimental friend- 
ships and incipient love affairs in which they worship with 
exaggerated fervor some person, or persons, whom their 
fancy selects. The boys' heroes and the girls' friendships 
are powerful agencies in the building up of their characters. 
This is therefore a period requiring very great attention 
and caution, and much special study. 

Gradually, the child awakens to independent thinking 
and logical reasoning. 

The Individual Attitude 

arises, often with much over-confident self-assertion, in op- 
position to heretofore recognized standards. At the same 
time, changes are noticeable which bring to light latent 
heredities of family traits. 

Family and personal characteristics combine finally to 
form the individual whose birth may be considered to take 
place at the age of about 15 years. We have, then, this 
sequence of developmental stages: species, race, nation, fam- 
ily, individual. 

Now there enters into the formation of mind and char- 
acter the element of individual differentiation, attitude and 
aptitude, of choice and selection. The aboriginal selfishness 
slowly gives place to altruistic emotions, and the basis of 
that youthful enthusiasm which is creative and world-cen- 
tered. 

Let us understand that what has been said in these pages 
is merely a rough outline of evolutional stages which will re- 
pay more detailed study, and which determine the rational 
basis of a course of education and instruction. The applica- 
tion of the facts here enumerated seems easy enough in the 
general aspect, but is certainly difficult in detail and indi- 
vidual adaptation. Much will depend upon the insight and 
tact of the teacher who must be given a great deal of lati- 
tude for immediate and varying adjustment. The course, 
as indicated in another place, must preserve a wholesome de- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 99 

gree of elasticity, to allow of sensible modification and adap- 
tation. 

As early as 1894, in the author's little book, "The Com- 
mon School and the New Education", the following sug- 
gestions were made: 

"The graded course of instruction . . . should com- 
prise the germs of all knowledge in the lower stages as well 
as in the higher and progress should be sought by way of 
a gradual widening of the pupils' horizon in concentric 
circles, as it were, rather than pushing forward in certain 
particular directions. 

"While thus each class, or grade, of the common school 
should impart to its pupils such knowledge as may be consid- 
ered a whole in itself, so that no matter at what stage or age 
the children leave school they may take with them an edu- 
cation which is, as far as it goes, complete and all 'round ; 
there will, in the higher grades, be the need of differentia- 
tion. Pupils of the requisite intellectual ability who are 
desirous of pursuing the higher courses of learning, might 
well be accommodated, even while they are still in the com- 
mon school, by substituting for some of the ordinary 
branches other studies which have not only an educational or 
formal value, but may at the same time serve as introduc- 
tory to the higher courses. They may also be taxed intel- 
lectually in a greater measure than those whose natural abil- 
ities or aims run lower and who should for their part be 
given the opportunity to finish a relatively simplified ele- 
mentary course which is complete in itself. 

"In other words, in the sixth or seventh school year, at a 
period of the child's life when his natural tendencies and 
capacities have had time to develop sufficient strength, the 
curriculum of the public school might branch out in two 
distinct directions, the one leading on toward higher intel- 
lectual achievements and the learned professions, the other 
tending to finish the common school course proper. Care 
must be taken not to erect insurmountable barriers . . . 
so that a passing from one to the other, when found ad- 
visable or desirable, may not be prohibited." 

Of the sexual differentiation which means a differentia- 



ioo THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

tion in interests and aptitudes, and which occurs at about 
the same time for which this branching out of the course has 
been suggested, something has been said before. In the last 
chapter of this volume, on "High School Education and 
Secondary Differentiation", more will be suggested in re- 
gard to the needs of that particular period. There is an- 
other factor which should be considered in the adaptation 
of the school work to different wants, and that is the dif- 
ference in the rate of growth and development which is 
noticeable in children. 

It will be recognized that the main function of a rational 
course of study is not to prepare children for any particular 
occupation, or for any utilitarian object, but to develop their 
human and individual faculties to the fullest extent so 
that they become truly humanized and civilized in the service 
of the highest ideals. Only he who is in the best sense a 
man will be the most useful citizen, wage-earner, or pro- 
fessional worker. A quotation from Prof. Wm. F. Phelps' 
little Chautauqua text book on the Greek philosopher Soc- 
rates may fitly close this chapter: 

"His antipathies were strong against the whole system of 
acquiring knowledge, as it was termed, for use. The thing 
to be accomplished, he avowed, was to become true men, and 
the uses would follow. Does the oak of centuries send out 
its strong arms that they may cast a shadow? On the con- 
trary, it ascends and spreads thru the vigor of its inner life, 
and then tribes and nations sit down under its grateful 
shade. This is a cardinal truth. Knowledge attained with 
a view chiefly to specific uses never forms the man, and it 
is not true knowledge. First and last, therefore, it was the 
counsel of Socrates, BE MEN!" 

A PARTIAL LIST OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES CONSULTED 

GULICK, "Aspects of Group Games," Pedagogical Seminary, 
VI, 2. 

KROHN, "Physical Growth Periods and Appropriate Exer- 
cises", Forum, June, 1899. 

VOSTROVSKY, "A Study of Children's Superstitions", 
Studies in Education, October, 1896. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 101 

STARBUCK, "Psychology of Religion", American Journal of 
Psychology, ix, I. 

SHELDON, "Institutional Activities of American Children", 
lb. ix, 4. 

LINDSAY, "A Study of Puzzles", lb. vm, 4. 

PHILLIPS, "Number and its Application", Pedagogical Sem- 
inary, Oct., 1897. 

BURK, "Growth of Children", American Journal of Psychol- 
ogy, ix, 3. 

TRlPLETT, "Pacemaking and Competition", lb. ix, 4. 

BURK, "Development of the Nervous System", lb. x, 1. 

HALL and ALLlN, "Tickling and Laughing" , lb. ix, I. 

CHRISMAN, "Children's Secret Languages", Child Study 
Monthly, Sept., 1896. 

DAVIS, "Children's Interest in the Causal Idea", lb. 

BARNES, "A Study in Children's Interest", Studies in Educa- 
tion, 1, 6. 

BURK, "Teasing and Bullying", Pedagogical Seminary, April, 
1897. 

ELLIS, "Suggestions for a Philosophy of Education" , lb. Oct., 
1897. 

SULLY, "Studies of Childhood." 

HALL, "Some Aspects of the Early Sense of Self", American 
Journal of Psychology, ix, 3. 

HALL, "A Study of Fears", lb. vm, 2. 

ALLlN, "Social Recapitulations", Educational Review Nov., 
1899. 

VAN LIEW, "Racial Traits in the Group Activity of Chil- 
dren", N. E. A. Proa, 1899. 

MONROE, "Play Interests of Children", lb. 



CHAPTER VI 

The Manual Principle 

IT is now generally admitted that industrial training, 
i. e., professional training and preparation for good 
artisanship, for trades, for technical pursuits of all sorts, 
elementary and higher, should receive much more at- 
tention in this country than it has received so far. 
Manual Training, however, educationally understood, is a 
different thing. It is not proposed on account of its 
possible effect upon so-called practical pursuits, or on ac- 
count of its trade or industrial value; such it has, without 
question, and children having received good manual train- 
ing will be better fitted for "practical" occupations than 
those whose training was one-sidedly formal. But it cannot 
be the aim of the public school to make artisans of all pupils. 
On the other hand we may even go a step further: in this 
age when machinery is superseding hand labor with growing 
rapidity, we shall often observe that much suffering is caused 
by this transition to new modes of production, for those who 
are thrown out of employment, and who find it difficult to 
re-adjust themselves to the new conditions and to new and 
different lines of work. It may safely be assumed that chil- 
dren who were educated in schools where their manual dex- 
terity was developed more or less parallel to the intellectual 
training they received, will be better able than their fathers 
were before them to adapt themselves to the changing phases 
of industrial evolution, both by having a better mental grasp 
of the situation, and by having acquired skill and a mastery 
of tools and materials along various typical lines of activity. 
But this result, while natural and welcome, may here be con- 

102 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 103 

sidered as incidental; it is not the first and foremost aim 
of the movement on behalf of manual training. This aim 
is purely educational. Manual training, in this sense, is 
valued as an element of culture. 

Nevertheless, even the "practical" result has its educational 
significance, inasmuch as a man can be called fully developed 
only in proportion to his fitness for his life's work. 

Yet, with educators, manual work is pre-eminently a form 
of expression, a mode of "externalizing the internal", as well 
as a method of gaining experience, of "internalizing the ex- 
ternal". Manual expression is valuable to all; with many it 
is their only form of successful self-expression. A cathedral or 
a Brooklyn Bridge are as much expressions of noble thoughts 
and feelings, as is Milton's "Paradise Lost." Again, all of 
us have our concepts enhanced in clearness and efficiency thru 
manual experiment; some are forever unable to grasp the 
world around them without such. 

Manual training leads necessarily to construction, or rather 
educational manual training must essentially be construction. 
As construction, it is dependent upon observation and experi- 
ment, the two great factors in the development of the mind 
towards self-activity and creativeness. As a matter of fact, 
all construction is experiment. It has recently been again 
emphasized that many machines invented by man have their 
prototypes as to form and functional structure in natural ob- 
jects and organisms. 

Said a writer in the "American Machinist": "All ideas 
are new but once; man cannot always be original, and he 
soon acquires the habit of absorbing ideas relating to his 
business. He sees how beautifully some mechanical device 
accomplishes its purpose, or how fitting is some shape or form, 
and unconsciously stores these ideas away in his mind and 
draws from them when needed. Probably the inventor of the 
hay-tedder made no extended study of orthoptera, but only 
put to a practical use the action of the grasshopper which he 
had seen all his life. The hypodermic syringe is a pointed ap- 
plication of the principle of the sting of a bee, and it is re- 
ported that a successful tunneling system was designed from 
the boring apparatus of an apple-worm. A suspension bridge 



io 4 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

represents the highest mechanical, mathematical, and engineer- 
ink skill, and yet it is only the adaptation of a spider's web 
to man's requirements. Of all pumps the most common, the 
most reliable, the most efficient is the heart, and there is a 
significant parallelism between its form and the designs for 
some modern pumping machinery. Whoever has 'caught a 
crab' while in bathing will remember the powerful grip of 
its jaws, and the inventor of the hay-carrier seized upon the 
idea as the crab seizes upon the toe of the bather. 

"The pillar of an upright drill resembles a tree trunk in 
size and shape. It has limbs and branches. Naturally then, 
the base, where stability is required, is modeled after the foot 
of the trunk. . . . 

"Sometimes the influence of natural forms appears in a 
real or fancied resemblance to some object which gives it a 
name, as an alligator wrench or a whaleback barge. . . . 
The tailor has his goose and the spinner his mule, and there 
are donkey engines and pony presses. The head of a ram is so 
manifestly adapted for butting that the ancient Romans 
carved it on the ends of their battering artillery, and while 
we have today abandoned the form we still retain the word 
'ramming'. 

"Machines have bodies, feet, arms; they are provided with 
wrist-pins, knuckle-joints, and elbows, and occasionally they 
break a rib or a leg like their human relatives. This shows 
the effect of natural forms on mechanical designs; not that 
they are copied literally. The tree-trunk is not reproduced 
with the bark on, or the elephant's foot with the toe-nails,* 
but they are adapted to man's purpose, conventionalized, 
as they say in art. 

"In decoration, nature's influence is even greater. 'The 
heavens above, the earth beneath, and the waters under the 
earth' all lend their products toward decorative art." 

The final result in the evolution of a machine is sometimes 
the outgrowth of a long series of observations and experi- 
ments, and the perfect machine has had, in the course of its 



*In designs for chairs, tables, etc., the toes of the animal 
whose foot furnishes the motif, are often carefully carved. G. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 105 

evolution from crude beginnings, many less perfect forerunners 
in ages gone by. 

Thus it is clearly seen that inventions are the effect of 
intelligent study of nature, sometimes perhaps of a more 
or less unconscious absorption of natural facts, combined 
with the ability of imaginative and constructive expression. 
While certainly invention depends upon imagination, the lat- 
ter draws its impulse from observation ; and science and con- 
struction go hand in hand. 

That human constructions are to a high degree imitations 
of nature, and as such the results of observation and experi- 
ment, sometimes of many successive generations, has been 
demonstrated long ago. Huts and houses are artificial caves; 
bridges are imitations of natural arches, trunks of trees or 
fallen rocks; a Gothic colonnade is a palm forest of stone; 
implements and weapons are for the most part direct copies of 
natural objects which first served as crude tools in the dawn 
of civilization. Here is shown the relation of manual work 
in its constructive sense to other branches with which it forms 
a conceptual whole. 

Considered from another viewpoint, manual training pos- 
sesses a value which proves it an indispensable helper in gen- 
eral education, at the same time demonstrating its "practical" 
utility apart from mere industrial or trade interests in a nar- 
rower sense. A physician, e. g., whose hands have not ac- 
quired skill, whose eyes and ears have not been trained to be 
acute and quick, will be much less fit for medical and surgical 
practice than one who has received this training; and in 
recording observations, the scientist will find well-trained 
sense-organs, and the ability of graphic expression as help- 
ful as he will find constructive skill in the arrangement and 
construction of his experimental apparatus and his instru- 
ments. Even the philosopher may be benefited by having ac- 
quired an aptitude for graphic representation of abstract 
thought. It may be maintained that such skill will be ac- 
quired at the time of professional preparation; but not so. 
At the age when such specialized training is received, the 
senses and limbs have lost some of their original pliability and 
plasticity. The great difference in professional effectiveness 



106 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

we observe in the callings here alluded to, may readily be 
traced back, in a measure, to differences in the early oppor- 
tunities for sense and motor training, apart from natural apti- 
tudes. 

Manual training, in the educational sense, does not mean 
the addition of a little sewing, or wood work, or the like, 
to an ordinary course of study. That would produce an in- 
congruous patchwork. There must be a co-ordinated sys- 
tem of studies and occupations: studies finding expression 
in occupations, and occupations forming a basis for intel- 
lectual work. Each branch may be considereded as one of 
many tests by which the children's individual abilities can 
be sounded, as has been shown in previous chapters. It 
will then be found, what everybody indeed knows in a 
general way without always allowing himself to be guided 
by this knowledge, that all children differ in various de- 
grees, and that each one may require a different point of 
vantage from which to reach his highest interest. In- 
struction may have to be compounded like unto a medical 
prescription, in doses containing varying proportions of 
ingredients, so as to fit individual cases. Some children 
are distinctively manual and non-literary, others literary 
and non-mathematical, etc. A uniform standard is impos- 
sible. The traditional distinction between "illiterates" and 
those who are called educated, does not cover all considera- 
tions. 

On the other hand, every child will be benefited by be- 
ing led to contemplate the world around him from various 
viewpoints, each branch, or study, or occupation, represent- 
ing in reality but a special point of view from which the 
entire world of knowledge and human existence is ap- 
proached. He will thus acquire a stronger hold on, and a 
clearer conception of, the world about him, and learn to ap- 
preciate the viewpoints of others that differ from his own 
peculiar attitude. This again, has an ethical significance. 

In an organized system of studies, manual training is 
rather a method of presentation than a separate discipline. 
Even special so-called manual occupations must be judged 
with reference to their educational value by determining 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 107 

their influence upon the building up of clear concepts and 
upon the development of the ability to control and organize 
sense-impressions and motor-impulses. The "manual method" 
represents the objective, experimental, and creative (con- 
structive) side of all school work; it ought to pervade all 
branches. The making of a thing, even by way of crude 
imitation, intensifies its conceptual identification and recog- 
nition. 

Manual work strengthens the knowledge of natural 
forces and materials; it illustrates the evolution of civiliza- 
tion by mediating a knowledge of typical tools and occupa- 
tions, which in turn is made more vivid and effective by 
the fact that it is not merely theoretical knowledge, but is 
substantiated by practical tests. Tools are nothing else than 
artificial hands, or elongations of our hands, invented by 
the brain to enlarge the sphere of manual effectiveness; or, 
as in the case of telescope, microscope, and telephone, arti- 
ficial sense-organs capable of enormously increasing the 
power of the receptive senses. Man, thru the co-operation 
of brain and hand, advances spiritually towards the very 
limits of time and space, in the microcosmos as well as in the 
macrocosmos.* 

Manual training mediates to the child a far greater circle 
of experience than he would otherwise become conscious of. 
Care must be taken that these experiences, while they will 
naturally remain within narrow limits, be typical, A me- 
chanical laboratory (using this general term so as to in- 
clude all kinds of manual work proper, so-called, such as 
shopwork, sewing, cooking, etc.), to be an educational in- 
stitution, must in a way be an adjunct to, and co-operate 
with, the physical and chemical laboratories. The work in 
all of these laboratories will virtually answer identical pur- 
poses, i. e., it will mediate knowledge and experience, thru 
the experimental method, gradually assuming a more and 
more differentiated, technical or scientific character, respec- 
tively, in proportion as the pupil advances in age and ma- 



*Cf. also Dr. Paul Carus, "The Philosophy of the Tool", 
Chicago. 



108 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

turity and gets ready for specialization. In the lower stages, 
the work will serve to satisfy the natural instincts of chil- 
dren to build and construct. Manual work, in this sense, 
is also constructive play. The value of the play ele- 
ment is a topic by itself, and has been referred to in the 
chapter on the kindergarten. 

Manual training is sense training. It exercises all senses 
and constitutes each into a helper to all others. It trains eye 
and hand, and makes both mutually subservient. It recog- 
nizes the immense value of the much-neglected sense of touch 
which is, in point of fact, the fundamental sense of which 
all other senses are but modifications and ramifications, or, 
if you please, differentiations, and with which all funda- 
mental, racial sensations are intimately connected. Above 
all, it brings the motor sense into play for the gaining of 
exact conceptions. Few people realize how deeply the 
motor element enters into the formation of our ideas, and 
how much more accurate our concepts are, how much more 
apt to associate organically with one another, for containing 
motor elements. At birth, all brain cells which the individ- 
ual will ever possess, are already present, partly in an un- 
developed state; a majority of these are motor centers — if 
they are not exercised and stimulated they will atrophy. If 
this happens, of course, no association fibres can issue from 
them to connect with other centers. Even tho they be de- 
veloped partly, the association tracts will be less easily pass- 
able than if the cells had received their proper share of ex- 
ercise. Associations, however, form the basis of apperception 
and judgment; the more there are of smooth association 
tracts and of connected, i. e., organized, functioning cen- 
ters, fit to receive and connect impressions, the higher de- 
veloped the brain will be, the more perfect our concepts, 
the more circumspect our judgments. 

Thought is connected with motion. Language is, indeed, 
a vehicle of thought: it expresses and conveys thought not 
only, but clarifies, crystallizes thought, makes thought more 
definite, more distinct, more exact. Max Miiller went so 
far as to maintain a parellelism, or even identity, of langu- 
age and thought. But the first language, as a means of com- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 109 

munication, had nothing to do with "lingua", the tongue; 
it was gesture language. Gesture language is as universal 
as it is practically the same, that is to say, using the same 
symbols, with a few curious exceptions, all over the globe. 
Even now, when we use "lingua-language", gestures will 
accompany and intensify speech, and sometimes be substi- 
stuted for speech. Every thought, however, is connected 
with some form of motor concomitant. Motor training may 
create, and will certainly stimulate thought, and make 
thought more concrete and true. 

Manual training, further, being a recognition of the play 
instinct, is also exercise. It sets free those natural and valu- 
able impulses which induce the child to try his strength 
and skill in a large number of various activities. It helps 
towards a completer self-projection of the child upon his 
environment, towards his more perfect self-realization. At 
the same time, it turns into useful channels those activities 
and tendencies which may, when left unemployed, atrophy 
and cripple the child's soul; or, when left unguided, may lead 
to destruction and crime. It converts them into constructive 
force. 

The remedial function of manual training has often been 
demonstrated in reform institutions for criminally disposed 
children, and in the treatment of deficient and degenerated 
persons generally. The reason is obvious from the forego- 
ing argument. 

When it is remembered that, in manual training, the play 
instinct of children receives a recognition, we shall under- 
stand that it must partake of the character and function of 
play; in other words, it must not be too formal and should, 
at least as far as younger children are concerned, never be 
introduced as a tedious, pedantic task. There must be an 
element of freedom and variety, an appeal to children's spon- 
taneous interests. By watching children's play, with build- 
ing blocks, sand, "mud", constructive toys of all kinds, we 
can learn many valuable lessons, as to what manual training 
should do for them. It is for this reason that the traditional 
"sloyd" does not possess the virtue ascribed to it by many. 
Sloyd, in the first place, restricts the child as to the material 



1 10 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

and tools used, and then it insists on too pedantic a course 
of models, requiring a high degree of patient toil, of accur- 
acy, and of finish. 

As regards patience, young persons have, and can have, 
but little of it, and when it is demanded beyond the limit of 
their capacity, or of their interest in the work in hand, their 
pleasure will be lost and they will hate the task as well as 
the task master. Some may regret this fact — it is an 
indisputable fact, nevertheless, that children will never do 
anything "with a will" that does not appeal to their inter- 
est in some way. The abstract ideas of duty and training 
have little charm for them, and it is the teacher's function 
to arouse the child's natural interests, or to create new mo- 
tives of action. But at his best, the child cannot work long 
over the same thing — he cannot sustain his attention. 

And then his standard of accuracy and finish is not the 
same as that of the adult. It is futile as well as unjust and 
cruel to force the adult standard upon him. There is no 
need of demanding that every piece he begins must be fin- 
ished to be exactly like the model set before him. It is 
more essential that he should learn to begin right, and this 
can be better accomplished by his trying his hands on a large 
number of experiments than by restriction to a few pieces in 
a so-called series. "Logical sequences" of exercises have lit- 
tle value in teaching the young whose development is irreg- 
ular and unsymmetrical in outward appearance. Let us 
have the young student try new pieces as many as possible. 
Let us adjust the "course" so that approximate results are 
acceptable. After the child has learned to make a good 
start, his constructive instincts will lead him on to finish 
each piece to his own satisfaction especially when he sees 
some purpose in it, and were it but a make-believe purpose, 
a play interest. 

The development of real accuracy is very gradual and cor- 
responds to the child's degree of experience, and of his power 
to co-ordinate muscular and nervous activity. This is a mat- 
ter of nervous development, and has been referred to in a 
previous chapter. It is sufficient if the product of the chil- 
dren's efforts represents the swing and character of the object 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 1 1 1 

which serves as a model or prototype. Exactness will be re- 
quired also, parallel with a growing appreciation of the neces- 
sity of fitting parts together ; this illustrates the value of con- 
structive exercises, properly so called, as compared with non- 
constructive work. It may sometimes prove helpful to have 
certain pieces produced by co-operation, several pupils com- 
bining in their construction. This will bring home to each 
the necessity of exact fitting more strongly even than when 
one works alone. 

Truly there are children who exhibit abnormal symptoms 
and who need special consideration. Aimless scatterbrains 
that flit from one thing to another can only be cured by find- 
ing some point of vantage thru which to reach their supreme 
interest. But those who cannot be reached at all are fewer 
in number than those who are at an early stage discouraged 
because too much is expected of them. It must also be re- 
membered that talents differ, and all will not be able to do 
technically accurate manual work even after practice, just as 
there will always be some to whom spelling and composition 
will remain unfathomable mysteries all their life. It is the 
variety of tests of which mention has been made before that 
will enable us to do justice to all. 

If reference be made to abnormal children to whom ordin- 
ary measures will not appeal, it may be stated that they need 
the curative treatment which can only be devised by the co- 
operation of the educator and physician, notably the alienist. 

For reasons similar to those enumerated in regard to ac- 
curacy, variety of material (cardboard, wood, wire, tin, clay, 
canvas, etc.), as well as of tools will add to the attractive- 
ness of the work. Besides, there will be possible in this way 
a many-sided experience as to natural forces and man's con- 
quest of the same which could not be obtained if we were to 
restrict the exercises to a one-sided series. 

In progressing from elementary to higher stages of work, 
it is well to bear in mind what has been said in the previous 
chapter on the gradual evolution from "symbolism" to "real- 
ism . 

Manual training, as an element of culture, includes art 
culture. Or rather art is the redeeming feature of all con- 



ii2 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

structive work; it lifts it from the lower level of mere me- 
chanical drudgery to the higher plane of creative activity; it 
represents the finishing touch, the liberating element. 

The art idea of construction has perhaps never been so 
fundamentally expressed in words as by Walter J. Kenyon 
in an introductory article to the first number of the "Manual 
Training Magazine" years ago. He said : 

"There is probably more of esthetic possibility in un- 
adorned construction than we are wont to recognize. All 
spontaneous expression, be it under skilled guidance, will ulti- 
mately make for beauty. . . . Wherever a creation is 
the expression of an eager soul, undriven save by native im- 
pulse, it makes towards art, whether it is decorative or not, 
and whether it be slightly to the unenlightened or not. Art is 
saying to your brother what God says to you. The vehicle 
of expression does not signify. . . . function is the 
basis of all art. . . . Art cannot transcend mathe- 
matics, whether it outreaches mathematical research or 
not. Whether it be a question of music, or color, or 
form, it is a question of interval. Interval, in turn, deter- 
mines proportion. And proportion subserves function." 

The art idea should enter into all work, and direct it to- 
wards the ideal of beauty and fitness. What is most perfect 
as to fitness is also most beautiful in its way. A table, for 
instance, constructed on the most simple lines of fitness for 
its purpose, is also the most beautiful piece of furniture of 
its kind. It is this thought which has now revived a taste 
for the so-called Old English and Mission styles in furni- 
ture. 

Yet, art has its individual claim as the highest form of 
self-expression; it strives for typical, eternal creations. It 
projects human nature upon the background of infinity and 
eternity, and relates the finite human life with universal 
existence. 

Art expression, however, is plainly dependent upon proper 
sense-training and manual culture as premises, or prerequi- 
sites. 

These suggestions have a bearing not only upon ele- 
mentary education, but on secondary school work as well, 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 1 13 

altho here there is a greater need of differentiation. The 
elective system, as characteristic of adolescent education, has 
this significance that the individual differences of the pupils 
now receive more distinct recognition, and that each one is 
allowed to construe his world conception from the stand- 
point of more specialized aptitudes. Thus, a manual training 
high school may have a true function; but the general high 
school should certainly not be devoid of manual training fea- 
tures in an educational sense. More will be said in the last 
chapter of this book. It needs to be emphasized, however, 
that it is better to work a system of manual training from 
the elementary stage up to the secondary stage, than to work 
down from the high school with its specialized aims to the dis- 
trict schools, as has too often been done. The reasons for this 
contention are obvious. 



CHAPTER VII 

Kinds of Manual Experience and Expression 

THE following series of suggestions is informally 
presented and naturally fragmentary. It is 
largely based upon practical work which has been 
actually done, under the author's supervision and 
elsewhere; but a careful selection has been at- 
tempted, in accordance with the principles pronounced in the 
previous chapters. Some of the suggestions have not yet been 
thoroly tried in school practice, but grew out of the general 
view of the subject as it appears in the light of the argument 
upon which this volume is based. 

The work may be considered under four heads: 

(i) Materials employed; 

(2) Typical occupations and tools; 

(3) Illustrative work, that is such as will be intimately and 

methodicaly connected with other branches ; 

(4) Assembled work. 

This arrangement does not imply a succession of exercises 
in this order; for the work will have to be arranged in peda- 
gogical order. The schedule will serve merely as a help in 
surveying the work. 

The four groups suggested here are closely interrelated in- 
asmuch as the first and second are in the nature of experiences 
which often will illustrate facts from other branches, such as 
science and history; and illustrative work will often have the 
character of assembled work. 

The use of a variety of materials will illustrate different 

114 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 115 

natural forces, their reaction upon human effort, and the 
means of utilizing them. Thus, their employment will be in 
the nature of physical experiments, and be subservient to the 
formation of scientific concepts. Again, the typical occupa- 
tions and tools will elucidate the history of civilization, and in 
this wise connect closely with history and geography, and in a 
measure even with literature. 

How manual work is a valuable form of expression has 
been set forth before. Complete expression requires the em- 
ployment of various forms simultaneously, or rather in close 
succession. The same idea may be expressed in different 
modes, clay, wood, drawing, etc. Form and size can be best 
expressed by modeling and construction; light and color by 
drawing and painting. There are other qualities that cannot 
be expressed in such form but for which music or poetry 
are needed: thus, the children will receive a training in the 
meaning of adequate expression as a function and an art. 

It may be well to speak in passing of the enormous value 
of drawing which enters largely into all kinds of manual ex- 
pression and productive activity. It is a necessary adjunct to 
the study of natural objects; without it construction would 
be hazardous ; it will enhance the work in composition, litera- 
ture, history, and geography. Mechanical drawing as such 
deserves careful attention, to be preceded in the lower grades, 
where only a small degree of accuracy can be expected, by a 
crude kind of mechanical sketching. Boys and girls alike 
should learn to read a working drawing, and to produce one, 
if it were only to become conscious of the principles of con- 
struction and design. Then, of course, the conception of geo- 
metric form, and of mathematical relations and laws, must 
be completed by the application of drawing, even tho the 
fundamental cognitions in this province of knowledge will 
have to be based upon the direct handling and making of 
bodies. 

Design, again, while based upon mathematical relations, 
is principally concerned in harmony of arrangement, pro- 
portion of parts, and fitness for its purpose, and depends 
upon invention and the awakening of the sense of beauty. 
Taking its origin in mechanical construction, it assumes 



1 16 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

the function of beautifying decoration. From it, indeed, 
all truly artistic forms have derived their being, for altho 
art is intrinsically a form of expressing a thought or feel- 
ing, its object is primarily to add beauty to a thing which 
is otherwise utilitarian. Thus, designs were carved on knife 
or sword handles; the monotony of walls and floors and 
ceilings was broken by decorative effects, and carvings and 
statuary helped to beautify the outside and inside of build- 
ings. Or, we may assume a twofold origin of art: first the 
desire to express, which led to picture-writing and kindred 
lines of work (even modern paintings of the highest type 
may be construed as perfect hieroglyphics, intended to ex- 
press and communicate a thought) ; and then the desire to 
beautify, which led to decoration. But the two lines of 
artistic activity are closely allied with one another, since 
even in the early times picture-writing, or hieroglyphics, 
were used with decorative effect, and decoration at its best 
is always used to express a definite meaning and will be 
appropriate to a specific purpose. 

Be that as it may, all decorative design is based on draw- 
ing. 

Design, as well as drawing without design, includes 
color. Pencil drawing is essentially concerned in outline. 
As soon as we use color, we deal with masses. Inserting 
color into outlines is not a very commendable practice altho 
it is quite common. Colored pencils, as they are a tempta- 
tion to outline, have therefore their drawbacks. 

The use of washes may be advocated as early as the kin- 
dergarten. We may begin with ordinary ink washes, then 
using prepared water colors. Design can also be expressed 
by the use of colored papers, in folding, cutting, and pasting, 
even using blue prints to effect. But while some simple 
exercises of this kind may be done in the youngest classes, 
this work will reach its true function in the higher. 

Design includes carving. As design, it is art work; in its 
execution, it is tool work in the sense of technique. Carv- 
ing, therefore, partakes of the character of both lines of 
expressive activity, and represents a blending of manual and 
art work. And as it eventually leads to the construction 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 1 17 

of beautiful articles of use, such as carved boxes, benches, 
chairs, etc., it will serve to connect the two departments, if 
departments they be, quite closely. 

As to the material for carving, the following sequence 
may be suggested : soap, clay, plaster, soft wood, hard wood. 
Attention may be called to the valuable training and pretty 
effects afforded by the German "Kerbschnitt" (notch-cut) 
exercises. There are also valuable exercises in beaten brass and 
similar design work. 

Another occupation of which more will be said later, is 
also in the nature of design and will require artistic thought 
and invention, viz., weaving. 

A large share of the art work will be modeling in clay. 
Without entering here into the details of this work, it may 
be remarked that it is fundamental in gaining artistic power 
and conceptions of form, besides being admirably fitted to 
the use even of the youngest children. It also leads over to 
other occupations of a more "manual" and constructive type. 
It appeals most fully to the primary sense of touch. 

One of the first things to be mentioned is the sand-table 
which ought to be found in every kindergarten, primary, 
and intermediate room. Apart from the free representative 
play of which it will allow, it will serve, as nothing else 
will, to illustrate all essential geographical and physiogra- 
phic facts on a small scale. Besides, it will form the basis 
for illustrative and assembled work in the study of different 
countries, and in history, such as will be referred to later in 
this chapter. The sand-table in the room will be fitly sup- 
plemented by the sand-heap outdoors, in the open air play- 
ground which ought to be more organically connected with 
all the work of the school than has heretofore been at- 
tempted. 

For manual training proper, the use of a great variety of 
materials, representing a large circle of experiences and 
occupations, is advocated. Among the material which is 
desirable may be mentioned: sand, clay, paper, cardboard, 
wood, tin, wire (lead, copper and iron), iron, and the ma- 
terials needed for domestic work of various kinds. 

Again, speaking of the occupations to be represented, and 



1 1 8 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

their successive introduction, we may take our clue from the 
historic order in which they were evolved, as this delineates 
the successive stages in intellectual grasp, and nerve and 
muscle control, exhibited by the human race in its gradual 
development of civilization — a development which is paral- 
leled in the child's individual evolution. This does not 
mean, as has been shown before, that we must disregard 
the child's present and immediate environment and inter- 
ests, in other words, his apperceptive basis, and force him 
to be a primitive man and do primitive things — but rather 
to follow his natural line of growth and allow him to do 
modern things in a primitive manner. For example, the 
child may be led to build and construct in simple fashion, 
but not necessarily Eskimo huts or an Egyptian chair, but 
modern dwellings in a simple and perhaps symbolical style, 
and doll house furniture. Or he may weave and sew, not 
necessarily an Indian blanket or wigwam, but a carpet for 
his doll, or a tent for an outing camp. Let us not forget 
that even apart from the apperceptive basis upon which we 
must build, the modern child is after all a child, and the 
savage adult was an adult, which means quite a difference 
in strength, co-ordination, and purposeful activity. 

In the development of the child's movements, we must 
consider several distinct periods. Up to seven, the reflex 
movements (spinal cord movements) prevail. The whole 
body, and the whole limb, are in motion. The hand is not 
yet really a human hand — the thumb is more like an or- 
dinary finger in the beginning. We may again be reminded 
of the powerful grasp of the baby who can support his own 
weight for a surprising length of time, and this grasp has 
been likened to the monkey grasp. The movements preva- 
lent at this period are such as kicking, dropping, digging, 
piling — blocks and sand, for instance; again, swinging, 
running, throwing. Cutting and folding are still beset with 
difficulties. Whatever requires nice adjustment, with the 
help of the sense of vision, is beyond the baby's power; the 
sense of touch is far ahead of that of sight. Children are 
far-sighted to the age of eight. 

This being the symbolic, or play, age, a symbolic scale 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 119 

and symbolic use will characterize all work. 

At six, simple tools can be introduced. The hand is at 
last perfectly straight; yet the movements are still whole 
arm and shoulder movements. The fingers and hands are 
but partially free from the lower simultaneous impulse. 
The rapidity even of hand and arm movement is only 60 
per cent, of what it is at sixteen. Writing and drawing at 
this age imply an intense strain, and such work, as far as 
it may seem unavoidable, should be confined to blackboard 
exercises. 

At seven, sense impressions predominate in the movements, 
and the mere reflexes are under control. We should now 
attend particularly to the training of the sensory responses. 
Partly for this purpose, partly because of the greater degree 
of muscular co-ordination possible at this stage, we may begin 
to introduce tools of greater complexity, again following 
somewhat the order in which the tools were differentiated in 
history from the first primitive implements. The club was, 
perhaps, the primordial form of all human tools — the branch 
of a tree, or simply a stone. Of all manufactured tools, the 
hammer comes first, and it was from the hammer that all 
other tools were developed. A hammer with a sharp edge 
became a knife; a pointed knife gave origin to the needle. 
Likewise in children's work, let us begin with crude tools 
and crude work, and work up to differentiated tools and di- 
versified tasks. 

At the age of eight sensory education can be diversified 
and emphasized thru the introduction of simple selected exer- 
cises from many different occupations; the motor education 
cannot yet employ special groups of muscles and nerves, but 
must still be more general and elementary. One of the dan- 
gers of this period is from overstrain; this is, as will be re- 
membered, the fatigue period. 

In the next year, there is great gain in precision, but ma- 
ture accuracy in hand and finger control is not reached before 
nine or ten. Application of this fact can easily be made upon 
the traditional methods of teaching writing, drawing, and 
sewing to young children. 

At eleven, the free use of the wrist movement is gained, 



120 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

and from now on exercises dependent upon this may be intro- 
duced. Games of skill are valuable at this time; and gener- 
ally there must be training with respect to muscular quick- 
ness. As this is the pre-pubertal period, the "wild time", full 
occupation is necessary so as to lead the surplus activity into 
constructive channels. 

The age of twelve marks the final and consummate transi- 
tion from make-believe to definite ends. The child now de- 
sires to make useful, real things. This is the shop work pe- 
riod, when sewing proper also has its place. 

The primitive occupations are building, tool making, pot- 
tery, sewing and weaving, planting, cooking. 

The child delights in building. Building blocks, first pure- 
ly symbolical, in other words, capable of representing every- 
thing in free play, and then such as can be used for archi- 
tectural constructions, form one of the most widely accepted 
and welcome playthings for children. The blocks of the 
Fourth Gift and their divisions and multiples can be employed 
for a variety of instructive exercises in building and construc- 
tion. The children may make doll houses and furnish them by 
crude carpenter work. It is well to remember, however, that 
the scale should not be miniature, but sufficiently large to 
allow of whole arm movements in the making. The tools 
to be used now would be hammer, knife, awl, drill. A primi- 
tive drill with bowstring may be easily constructed by the 
children. Practice in whittling would fitly follow the first 
cruder exercises. 

The knife develops into the saw, and there is a possibil- 
ity to introduce some coarse sawing even in the lowest grades. 
The scroll saw may become a valuable adjunct at this stage, 
and its use may be perfected thru the grades. 

A more complicated course in wood construction, combin- 
ing the use of all foregoing tools and materials, may be taken 
up in the older grades of the school, care being taken that 
there be no excessive indulgence in the formalities and techni- 
calities of the trade, and that ample opportunity is afforded 
for free spontaneous invention. 

All this time, some primitive tools may be constructed of 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 121 

wood, wire, and like material. 

Wood, indeed, is only one of the material bodies with 
which the experimenting child should occupy himself. Wire 
lends itself very readily to the making of many interesting 
forms, and is particularly helpful in the development of the 
sense of touch and of muscular adjustment. In the lower 
grades, many forms of symbolic size (hooks, chains, etc.) 
may be bent in pliable lead wire, using the fingers and a little 
mandrel of wood for forming. In the next step copperwire 
of increasing thickness may be substituted, and with the help 
of hammer and vise more realistic articles can be fashioned. 
Later the child may fashion a needle of copper wire; and fol- 
lowing this, a steel needle may be introduced for the use in 
sewing. The wire work may lead up to forging (first cold, 
using lead ; then hot, using iron and forge) when actual im- 
plements may be made (chisel, chain, pokers, etc.), and to 
other kinds of metal working. In the "grammar" grades and 
the high school, a course in actual tool making would eventu- 
ally complete this course. 

Pottery is the industrial side of modeling. The children 
will delight in shaping vessels of all kinds, Indian like, first 
with the fingers alone, and finger marks for decoration. Then 
in the next grades a simple potter's wheel (the first machine 
invented by man) can be used for more exact work, and dec- 
orations may be in design and color. The making of a pot- 
ter's wheel of simple construction, by the way, would be a 
suitable exercise in the shop work of higher grades. 

Sewing and weaving can be summed up under the general 
head of the making of household articles, and will form one 
group with basket making, bead work, netting, plaiting, string 
work, etc. All these are primitive occupations, largely in- 
vented and practiced by primitive woman, and will fitly illus- 
trate the civilizing arts, besides being admirably adapted to 
the possibilities of children. But again it must be understood 
that this primitive work need not be altogether an imitation 
of savage work; it may largely be adapted to the modern 
environment and the modern interests and needs of the child, 
in addition to its illustrative features. 

With children the coarser work should precede the finer. 



122 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

Weaving, with reeds, raffia, chamois strips, ribbon, cloth, 
worsted, shoestrings, should be the forerunner of sewing, and 
a primitive loom, on a fairly large scale, may be employed for 
the manufacture of simple fabrics. As a continuation of weav- 
ing, darning and knitting will introduce sewing proper. 

Sewing, requiring rather fine muscular adjustments in eye 
and hand, should first be quite coarse and crude. Accurate 
stitching on a small scale, which is usually offered as the first 
"logical" exercise in sewing, the making of "samplers" and the 
like, should be avoided ; it is not only injurious but an actual 
waste of time. Begin, perhaps, with a big bone needle (made 
from a crochet needle), coarse canvas and burlap, and large 
threads. Cord and worsted threads will answer the purpose. 
And have the child make things, in rapid work, even with 
colored threads — bags, doilies, dresses for a large doll, in sav- 
age or crude fashion, with as few stitches as necessary. It is 
immaterial at this stage whether the child knows the names 
and functions of different stitches. There are many sug- 
gestive courses published in raffiia and cord work, basketry, 
netting, etc. The intelligent teacher will have a wealth of 
applications of the general principle to choose from. 

In parenthesis it may be said that even work of this nature, 
altho it appears pronouncedly industrial and "practical", par- 
takes in a singular way of the nature of expressive work. 
Those who can read the meaning of the patterns and meth- 
ods of Indian basketry for instance, will be surprised to find 
that there is a significance in every variation of form. On 
baskets and blankets, totemic figures were worked in a mul- 
titude of ways. Picture-writing as ordinarily understood was 
"preceeded by the use of material objects which afterwards 
were reproduced graphically in paintings, cuttings and carv- 
mgs. * 

Among these may be here mentioned : knotted cords and 
objects tied, notched or marked sticks, and wampum, the 



*This passage and a few following, are quoted from Gar- 
rick Mallery's study of "Picture Writing of the American 
Indians", Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1888-89. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 123 

latter representing bead work. "A peculiar and ingenious 
mode of expressing thoughts without pronouncing or writ- 
ing them in language is still met with among the Indian 
shepherds in the Peruvian Cordilleras, tho it is practised 
merely in the accounts of the flocks. This system consists 
of a peculiar intertwining of various strings into a net-like 
braidwork, and the divers modes of tying these strings form 
the record, the knots and loops signifying definite ideas and 
their combination the connection of these ideas. This sys- 
tem of mnemonic device, which was practised by the an- 
cient Peruvians, was called quipu, and, tho a similar knot- 
writing is found in China, Tartary, eastern Asia, on many 
islands of the Pacific, and even in some parts of Africa, yet 
in Peru, at the time of the Incas, it was so elaborately de- 
veloped as to permit its employment for official statistics of 
the government. Of course, as this writing gave no picture 
of a word and did not suggest sounds, but, like the notched 
sticks, merely recalled ideas already existing, the writing 
could be understood by those only who possessed the key 
to it; but it is noteworthy that when the Jesuit missions 
began their work in Peru they were able to use the quipus 
for the purpose of making the Indians learn Latin prayers 
by heart." The descendants of the Quiches still use a 
modified quipu, or rather a sort of bead work, for numera- 
tion. "They pierce beans and hang them by different col- 
ored strings, each of which represents one of the column 
places used in decimal arithmetic. A green string signifies 
1000; a red one, ioo; a yellow, 10; and a white refers to 
the 9 smaller digits. Thus if 7 beans are on a green, 2 on 
a red, 8 on a yellow, and 6 on a white string, and the whole 
tied together, the bundle expresses the number 7,286." 
Prof. Terrien de Lacouperie reports: "The Yang tung, 
south of Khoten, and consequently north of Tibet, who first 
communicated with China in A. D. 641, had no written 
characters. They only cut notches in sticks and tied knots 
in strings for records." 

In his fantastic story, "The Man Who Would be King", 
Rudyard Kipling has one of his adventurers speak of a 
"string talk letter, that we'd learned the way of it from a 



I2 4 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

blind beggar in the Punjab." And he to whom the man 
tells his story makes this comment: "I remembered that 
there had once come to the office a blind man with a knotted 
twig and a piece of string which he wound round the twig 
according to some cipher of his own. He could, after the 
lapse of days or hours, repeat the sentence which he had 
reeled up. He had reduced the alphabet to eleven primi- 
tive sounds, and tried to teach me his method, but failed." 

The knots tied in handkerchiefs by forgetful people to 
this day, to remind them of things they want to remember, 
are a relic of this ancient method of record. And it sug- 
gests itself that the various primitive occupations mentioned 
might be utilized even with our modern children in a simi- 
lar way, at least in the pre-writing period. It shows that 
this pre-writing period may not be entirely devoid of record- 
taking. 

Considering other occupations fitted for children, plant- 
ing deserves much more attention than it receives even now 
when the school garden idea has been broached. Planting has a 
close connection with cooking, and should be related to it 
in part. School gardens ought to be a regular appendage 
to every school. They should have a use not only for the 
study of plants as such, as a help in nature work, but also 
for the raising of plants and vegetables for consumption in 
kitchen work. Cooking is also intimately related to physio- 
logy and hygiene, and a rational correlation of these sub- 
jects will prove far more beneficial than the teaching of a 
bogus physiology from unscientific textbooks. 

That cooking is not merely an upper grade and high 
school study for girls who don cap and apron in effective 
coquetry, but can be introduced systematically and with 
good effect in the lowest grades, has been demonstrated in 
progressive kindergartens and primary classes. 

Let us be reminded that planting, as explained before, is 
one of the most interesting experiences for the young by 
which to learn one of the first fundamental conditions upon 
which human civilization rests. The transition from 
nomadic life to agriculture marked the beginning of settled 
society in the history of the race, and it is well that this 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 125 

stage in the humanizing of the child should be well im- 
proved. 

On the general value of domestic study for girls, a wise 
mother, in reply to the question, "If you had girls of your 
own, would you give them the same education that you had, 
or would you try to improve upon it?" is quoted by Jeamie 
Josephine Starr, in "Good Housekeeping", as saying: 

"I shall make them (the daughters) feel the dignity of 
hand labor, and teach them not to despise household work, 
by beginning in early childhood to teach them to sew, to be 
orderly about their own possessions, to take the responsi- 
bility of some light household duty, and hold them to its 
correct fulfilment. When they leave school or college, I 
shall entrust to them, by degrees, as much of the home 
management as possible; but I shall insist on an early ac- 
quaintance, in childhood and girlhood, with some details 
of homemaking; because, however brilliant a girl may be 
mentally, she needs the practical knowledge which the man- 
agement of a home can best give and if she acquires a dis- 
taste for household affairs thru lack of habit and training, 
no amount of brains will help her over the knotty problems 
of domestic life, till she learns how to do things herself, and 
an early training, acquired most unconsciously, will save 
hours of unhappiness. I know of so many college-bred 
women and teachers who loathe housekeeping, even in homes 
of their own, because they never learned how; while to me 
housekeeping, because I understand it, is an interesting oc- 
cupation — one which forms but a single item in my daily 
interests, because I learned to systematize and then dismiss 
it." 

Domestic science and practice, it ought to be added, is 
not exclusively a study for girls. When rightly taught, as 
the science and art of right living, it is as interesting and 
valuable to boys. It was a lesson not soon to be forgotten 
by the managers of vacation schools that boys were as eager 
as the girls in taking lessons in cooking and sewing, as they 
were to do shopwork, and not a few surpassed the girls in 
application and ability. It may be remarked that the best 
cooks are "chefs", and the best ladies' tailors are men. 



126 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

Another kind of work well adapted to children is paper 
work. There is the weaving of mats which should, how- 
ever, be done on a considerably larger scale than is usually 
done in the kindergarten. "Bogus paper" and linen are 
other materials which can be used for the same work and 
have many advantages. With the introduction of scissors, 
many helpful exercises will commend themselves. Pictures 
may be cut out and mounted; thru folding and cutting, 
many forms of beauty may be developed, and much work 
in design can be done. But the same caution as for weav- 
ing should be heeded; avoid small-sized work — it is best for 
little fingers to do coarse work on a large scale. 

Freehand tearing and cutting is very valuable in art 
representation, and may be developed into silhouette work. 
This affords much inspiration for home occupation; indeed 
all work done in school will find its test as educational work 
by the effect it will have upon the conduct of the child at 
home. 

Cardboard exercises, leading up to the essential elements 
of decorative pasteboard work and even bookbindery, will 
lend their aid to geometrical construction and demonstra- 
tion. Or rather, out of the concrete experience of this 
kind of work will gradually arise an understanding of 
mathematical relations of form. Then, it will be connected 
with other studies, by being made subservient to them. 
Boxes and trays may be made for seeds, specimens and col- 
lections of all kinds; files and portfolios, to keep pictures 
and clippings, etc. 

Many of the forms built in cardboard may be repeated in 
the workshop of the higher grades, in tin; while there will be 
few new form concepts developed in this way, there is a set 
of new experiences as to material, tools, and method. 

Much of this work, as has been shown, will serve as 
illustrative work, by being intimately interwoven with other 
branches, so as to establish a system of associations and ap- 
perceptive relations. We may once more be reminded of the 
value of motor images, or memories, for the building up and 
reproduction of our concepts. 

Special work may be required in special branches. Draw- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 127 

ing, e. g., is the common servant of geography, history, na- 
ture work, etc., etc. Map drawing, the making of relief maps 
in papier mache, salt, putty, and other material, will enhance 
the work in geography; pictures and products will be col- 
lected, stored and mounted. 

Here are a few suggestions from the practice of some pro- 
gressive schools: 

I. Articles for use in the school made with easy stitches, e. 
g. overcasting, braiding of soft fibres and coarse weaving. 

II. Work in sewing is connected on the side of clothing 
with the social work; skins, furs, and their treatment; study 
of wool ; all primitive processes of preparation from raw wool 
to woven cloth. Technical work: making of work bags. 

Knotted cords, plaited mat, bow and arrow, knotted bag, 
wigwam, moccasin, snowshoes, bead weaving, canoe, baskets. 

III. Textile work: textile industry taken up from social 
side in each race studied. Technical work: characteristic 
costume for each race ; equipment for work bags, e. g. needle- 
book and pin cushion. Alaska: course in simple tie knots, 
frame for fishing sloop, net for fishing sloop, frame for bead 
weaving, bead weaving. Scandinavia', milk wagon, Viking 
ship. Switzerland: Chalet, dress doll. Lincoln: log cabin, 
rough stool and table. Robinson Crusoe: baskets, tent, raft, 
ladder, cable. 

And thus it is carried on to higher modes of occupation and 
an understanding of higher processes of manufacture. These 
samples of what has been done in some schools cannot serve 
as models, as every school has its own problem to solve. They 
are simply suggestive, even in their mistakes. 

Assembled Work, by which is meant the combination of 
separate pieces or kinds of work into sets, or groups, is largely 
illustrative in character. It will draw upon various occupa- 
tions to produce a whole. There may also be an assembling 
from different classes, each contributing its share, on the level 
of its ability, to the complete production. Thus, one class 
may build the doll's house; another may furnish it; still 
another may surround it with a fence and supply it with gar- 
den and farm tools for the attached farm yard ; a fourth may 
dress the dolls, supply the beds and blankets, etc. Or an 



i28 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

entire farm may be built up ; or a set of furniture for a large 
doll may be made, including pictures and picture frames, car- 
pets (on a half-grown scale) woven, curtains and doilies sup- 
plied, and the doll herself furnished with a complete "trous- 
seau" to finish out the idea of complete equipment. 

The sand table will be an important basis for another 
class of illustrative, assembled work. On it there may be 
built up landscapes and scenery for illustration of countries, 
customs and historical events. Cities may be outlined, and 
Indian villages constructed. The human figures may be mod- 
eled in clay, or whittled out in wood, and dressed appropri- 
ately in various fashions. The houses may be built of wood 
and clay, or modeled in cardboard. So-called "modeling 
sheets" may be bought ready drawn at the stationer's. Huts 
and wigwams may be made of twigs, cloth and chamois. Pot- 
tery and implements can be supplied, and mosses, ferns and 
other plants of proper selection, rocks and soils, will add to 
the effect and instructional value. The work can be made 
to grow, by gradual additions thruout the year, or term. 
Mechanical devices and moving things may be added: mills, 
water works, processions, workmen at work — driven by sand, 
water, or clockwork. Models of inventions may be con- 
structed : engines, machines, steamers, bridges, in wood, wire, 
tin and cardboard. It has been the custom of many high 
schools, in reading Caesar, to have the pupils make models 
of the famous bridge across the Rhine. There is a multi- 
tude of other things. 

The schools that afford their pupils the advantage of a 
large school yard, perhaps even a real school ground, may 
transplant some of this work outdoors. Thus the pupils may 
have their forts and wigwams, their mills and bridges, 
their mountains and play houses on a semi-natural scale in the 
yard, and represent with their own persons events and cus- 
toms of foreign lands or olden times dramatically. 

The suggestions offered in this chapter are but fragmentary, 
it is true. But they will suffice to indicate the enormous pos- 
sibilities which a well-articulated course of manual work pos- 
sesses, and the great variety of exercises that may be summed 
up under this head. This variety leaves ample margin for 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 129 

individual freedom and choice, and for the manifold differ- 
ences which may exist in the local conditions of schools, or the 
varying characteristics of classes, or groups of children. There 
will never be any need of forcing a child into the narrow 
grooves of artificial and one-sided "sequences". There is 
enough of the play interest connected with the exercises sug- 
gested to make the work attractive; and enough of plan, and 
practice, and information, thru experience and expression, to 
bring out the full educational value of manual training. 



CHAPTER VIII 

The Mathematical Evolution of the Child 

ONE of the chief values of the study of mathe- 
matics has been found in its universality. It 
encompasses the entire world of existence. It 
enables us to bring the most distant worlds and 
the most minute forms under the scrutiny of 
the mind, and to organize them all in one grand system of 
order and harmony. Where words would be clumsy, 
awkward and circumlocutary, entirely inadequate to medi- 
ate a clear and immediate perception, a mathematical form- 
ula will be found to express a universal truth in terse and 
pregnant form. To illustrate this, we need only to com- 
pare the statement: "The square of the sum of two quanti- 
ties is equal to the sum of the squares of the two quantities 
plus twice their product," with the formula: (a+b) 2 =a a + 
2ab+b 2 . 

Quantitative relations of enormous proportions can, thru 
a formula, be reduced to simple forms easily handled and 
readily understood. The statement of the eternal lawp 
which govern this wonderful world of ours would be very 
difficult if we were left without the use of mathematical 
symbols. Thru them, we can arrive at the highest abstrac- 
tions. Mathematics has therefore proven itself an indis- 
pensible helper towards a philosophical conception of the 
world and its forces. It is a ready tool of the thinker, and 
he who has not learned to think in abstract mathematical 
terms will never reach the mountain top of thought from 
where a universal view may be taken. 

No wonder that when the ancients, from early crude 

I30 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 131 

conceptions, had worked out the science of mathematics, 
as the first of the exact sciences, they exalted it into a 
philosophic system which they imagined would solve the 
problem of existence. Magic powers were attributed to 
numbers, and even Greek philosophers built their world 
conception upon mysterious numerical relations. What 
had been merely a tool for the training of the mind in mas- 
tering the thought-forms of space and time — what was not 
in itself concrete existence, but a symbol of relations — as- 
sumed the semblance of reality and developed a ghost-like 
substantiality which has haunted our minds ever since the 
time of Plato. How little of concreteness number has to 
us, how clearly it manifests its symbolical function, will 
become evident when we probe into our numerical concepts 
and ask ourselves how far up in the scale of number we 
have any clear notion of quantity. Who is there that can 
readily recognize 100, or even 50, yea, 10, without count- 
ing, or grouping, the units? And yet, we manipulate mil- 
lions and hundreds of millions. This is a purely abstract 
function. 

If we apply these facts to the mathematical side of in- 
struction, we may have to admit the unquestionable and 
prodigious value of mathematics in the training of the 
faculty of abstract thinking. Yet, we should avoid falling 
into the error of confusing mathematical symbols with reali- 
ties. Again, the faculty of abstract thinking is of slow 
growth, and we must not attempt to force it before its time. 
The geometry of Euclid was not created until ages of civil- 
izatory efforts had been lived thru by our race, and before 
there could be any science of number, there were crude 
number superstitions coupled with the conception of quan- 
tity. These superstitions are not yet entirely vanquished; 
the curious dread many uneducated people still have of the 
census, and the beliefs still haunting many persons' minds 
with regard to the mysterious powers of such numbers as 7, 
3, or 13, are sufficient proof of the survival of these ancient 
notions. The symbol which was destined to become the 
ready tool of the rational mind, was at first a magical sign 
endowed with mystic powers. And then, all abstractions 



132 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

took their origin in the world of objects — they are im- 
possible without being abstracted from the concrete, and use- 
less unless they symbolize concrete things in their actual or 
possible relations. 

Thus, mathematical instruction must be based upon the 
world of concrete things, and be continually related to it. 
Like time and space, the mathematical element is a method 
of the mind to categorize. Except in relation to geometry, 
mathematics is not in itself concrete. But, as Prof. W. S. 
Jackman once put it, "it is its function to give accuracy and 
exactness to ideas; to render hazy notions clear, and to 
evolve the definite from the indefinite." 

Our common practice in the schools is not sufficiently 
consistent with rational methods. 

First of all, there is too much abstract work in the early 
grades. Indeed, some of it will always prove helpful in the 
training of the budding faculty of abstraction, and, in the 
form of mental arithmetic, will assist in developing the 
power to hold mental images in mind, and to strengthen the 
memory along this line. Let us not forget that even the 
use of "denominate" numbers requires much abstraction un- 
less the concrete image of the things which these denomina- 
tions signify, is very vivid in the child's mind ; and all "men- 
tal" work is, to the young child at least, much in the nature 
of abstraction since he must then even image the mathemat- 
ical symbols. So much of abstract work is stultifying, and 
when we give our little children examples like this to puzzle 
over: 

Divide 25 by 2-9 of 7-8 of 1-17, etc. — 
we may well question the advisability of wasting time and 
energy on such stuff. Truly said R. B. Carter, in "Arti- 
ficial Production of Stupidity in Schools": 

"An urchin may be able to say correctly that a word point- 
ed out to him is an adverb or a pronoun, may proceed to give 
a definition of either, and examples of instances of occurrence, 
and may produce the impression that he understands all this, 
when the truth is that he has only learned to make certain 
noises in a particular order and is unable to say anything intel- 
ligible about the matter in language of his own. Or he may 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 133 

repeat the multiplication table, and even work it, saying that 
7x8=56, without knowing what 56 is, or what 7x8 means. 
He knows all about 7 or 8, not from schooling, but from 
the lessons of life, from having had 7 nuts or 8 marbles; 
but of 56, which is beyond his experience, he knows nothing. 
The nature of the mental operations of such children is per- 
haps as little known to the teacher, or to the vicar of the 
parish, or to the kind ladies who take an interest in the school, 
as the mental operations of the inhabitants of Saturn. The 
adults distinctly understand a thing which they feel to be 
very easy, and do not know that any children can talk about 
it correctly without attaching an idea to their words." 

Mr. Carter wrote these words in England, fifty years ago ! 

We shall see later that some such drill has its value during 
the "counting period" of the child, or for utilizing the 
memory for the storing up of material for future use. But 
surely Mr. Carter was right in claiming that 56 means noth- 
ing concrete to the child. To how many of us does it? 

Another common mistake is the attempt to exhaust the 
logical possibilities of number relations at too early an age. 
Thus the child is not allowed to proceed to the number 8 
until he is supposed to have mastered all the possibilities up 
to 7. This is the most flagrant fault of the still surviving 
"Grube" method. In fact, the child can easily learn to count 
up to large numbers without exhausting any, and the hope to 
make him understand 7 before he attacks 8 is largely an illu- 
sion. It is a premature attempt at rationalizing, besides 
neglecting the child's early concrete notions of number as 
derived from actual observation. He usually knows a good 
deal about 8 before the pedantic schoolmaster deigns to take 
official cognizance of the fact. It is like the legal fiction that 
a man whose death certificate has once been filed, even tho by 
mistaken identification, remains legally dead, altho he may 
present himself in person to the court, until the court annuls 
the death certificate officially, and with much show of method. 

We shall see later that the child's number concepts are of 
twofold origin; the result, on the one hand, of a continuous 
series (counting), and of space conceptions on the other. 

In previous chapters mention has been made of the unes- 



134 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

sential details with which the course in arithmetic is usually 
overloaded. Problems in partial payment, broker's discount, 
and in fact almost the whole of commercial arithmetic are 
altogether outside of the child's province, and should be 
omitted. Most of the so-called "practical examples" ought to 
be weeded out and replaced by others which are more truly 
real problems to the child. Of these mistermed "practical 
examples", we may distinguish two classes: 

First, those that are absolutely wrong, and which only seem 
to be "practical", because "practical" denominations are em- 
ployed. To this class belong examples like the following : If 
one horse costs $40.00, how much will 20 horses cost? or: 
If one man can do a certain job in two days, and another 
could do the same work in four days, how long would it take 
if they were to work together? The answer expected to the 
first problem, $800.00, would be "mathematically" correct, 
but "practically" it would signify an exception. It happens 
rarely that there are 20 horses of exactly the same value on a 
stock farm ; and if there were, you could buy 20 of them at 
one time at a considerable discount. In the second case much 
would depend upon the possibility of the two men working 
together profitably. They might be in each other's way. Or 
the "personal equation" might interfere. Or, they might help 
each other, thus saving time. Asked one teacher: "If one 
servant girl could clean three rooms in two hours, how long 
would it take two girls to do the work?" Little Girl: "Four 
hours." Teacher: "Wrong. It would take only one hour." 
Little Girl: "Oh, I didn't know you were talking about ser 
vant girls that wasn't on speaking terms." 

As far as examples of this nature are legitimate at all, they 
would better be postponed until the time that an algebraic 
solution can be given. 

A second class of spurious "practical" examples are those 
which are outside of the child's knowledge and interest. Most 
of the commercial details belong here. A child has no inter- 
est in corner lots and business speculations, and if he has he 
is not a genuine child. The true child has no experience in 
these things. Those children who will later enter a business 
life will then have opportunity of obtaining the knowl- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 135 

edge and concentration requisite for these operations. 

In the next place there is great need of simplification and 
unification. Altogether too many divers operations are dis- 
tinguished which confuse the child's mind and prevent him 
from seeing the simple relations, and the fact that some opera- 
tions are merely self-evident adaptations of others. 

There is, for instance, no need at all to draw a sharp line 
between division and ratio and proportion. These two pro- 
cesses, or relations, are intimately connected, in a measure even 
identical. The artificial distinction is unduly emphasized by 
a multiplicity of signs. The child will be unable to recognize 
the essential identity of these three propositions: 

3:4-9:12; 

3-r4=9-ri2; and 
H— 9-12. 

In arithmetical text books on the continent of Europe, no 
distinction is made between the signs of division and equa- 
tion, and those of ratio and proportion. The signs : and = 
are the only ones used, in addition of course to the fractional 
line. It is not claimed here that there is not a logical dis- 
tinction between division and proportion; but a child is not 
concerned in this. 

Much can be gained by introducing the idea of equation at 
an early time. Algebraic methods, e. g. the parenthesis, can 
also be used at an early stage to advantage ; arithmetical ex- 
amples too complicated for a convenient arithmetical solution 
may fitly be postponed until the algebraic form can be used. 
Occasional demonstrations of the value of algebraic form will 
arouse an interest in this before the children are mature 
enough to employ it themselves. The bewildering complexity, 
apparent, not real, of the problems in percentage will be re- 
duced to a minimum when once a formula like this will be 
grasped : 

Capital (Base) x Per Cent x Time 

=Interest 

IOO 



i 3 6 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

which may be abbreviated in various ways, e. g. : 
C x °/o x T 



-=1. 



ioo 



Above all things let us avoid juggling with figures in the 
elementary grades. When the work of comparison begins 
mathematical exercises become fruitful and educative. It 
was preceded by the collection of data (counting) whose 
principal value consists in that it affords opportunities for 
mental discipline. "In making comparisons", says Jackman, 
"there may be recognized four modes; . . . these four 
modes in their cumulative complexity also bear a natural re- 
lation to the development of the child's mind. The first 
mode of comparison which a child uses is where all the 
quantities are considered as wholes" (the four fundamental 
operations; the multiplication tables). . . . "The sec- 
ond mode is by considering one of the quantities directly 
as a part of the other" (fractions). . . . "In the third 
mode of comparison the child may use either quantity as the 
standard, but he must be able to conceive of it as being rep- 
resented by unity" (ratio and proportion). . . . "In 
the fourth mode the pupil must be able to conceive of one 
of the quantities being represented by one hundred" (per- 
centage) . . . 

All exercises in mathematical accuracy will have to be 
grouped around these central thoughts and relations, and 
consequently be adapted to the development of the child's 
mind itself. 

As a reaction against the ordinary methods of teaching 
number, the ratio method has been suggested by such men as 
Dewey, McClellan, and Speer. The keynote of this doc- 
trine is struck in the preface to Mr. Speer's book: "The 
fundamental thing is to induce judgments of relative magni- 
tude." The theory is that the child should be set, not to 
studying about number, nor to learning how to manipulate 
the bare symbols of number, but to exercising an activity 
which involves number, or which is number. It is claimed 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 137 

by this theory that the number by itself indicates relative 
value. It always expresses ratio, i. e. the relation which the 
magnitude to be measured bears to the unit of reference. 

We may agree that number, being based on measurement, 
is ratio, philosophically considered; but this relation is not 
graspable by young children to the extent this newer method 
of teaching number demands. The ratio idea, being a ra- 
tional idea, develops slowly. The child compares primarily 
magnitudes in a more or less crude way. Magnitude to the 
child is more or less the same as aggregation. 

We cannot be too cautious in not expecting too much rea- 
soning from the young child. It is clearly a mistake to in- 
sist pedantically upon the "whereas" and "therefor". Ex- 
periments on mathematical reasoning have been made by 
numerous psychologists. John A. Hancock shows that in the 
solution of the examples upon which the tests were based, 
and which were graduated according to the knowledge the 
pupils were supposed to possess, errors in reasoning were 
quite frequent below the 12th year; not before this period 
is the number of errors less than 50 per cent., the boys being 
usually ahead of the girls. "The errors may be all heard or 
seen daily; children hearing them rarely manifest suspicion 
of their absurdity." Typical examples of the mistakes are 
as follows: "Three feet equals fifteen inches, or one-third of 
twelve inches." "Five dozen eggs cost five times fifteen 
cents, or sixty eggs cost sixty times fifteen cents." 

Speer's method which has found favor with many teachers, 
employs the motor activities of the child, and is thoroly 
objective. It bases arithmetic on geometry. So far, it is 
rational. But it neglects too much one of the two sources 
of mathematical conceptions. These two sources are, first, 
counting, and second, measurement and form. The "new 
arithmetic" is based on the second, to the exclusion of the 
first. 

"The starting point of arithmetic", says Prof. Hermann 
Schubert, "is the idea of counting and of number as the re- 
sult of counting. . . . The idea of addition springs 
immediately from the idea of counting." Of the "counting 
period" in young children, following the "naming period", 



138 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

mention has been made before. Pres. G. Stanley Hall refers 
to the primitive tallying and counting, to be observed in 
babies, as previous to the use of mathematical symbols. To 
the extreme advocates of exclusive workshop arithmetic, 
Prof. J. A. McClellan answers very justly as follows: 

"The normal action is thwarted by the irrational arithme- 
tic of quality, and the servile worshippers of qualitative 
unities. For when the child, in counting and measuring, 
is forced, by the workshop routinist, to dwell upon the 
'qualitative aspects': to exercise his growing power of dis- 
crimination and relation upon the qualities of things, care- 
fully noting perceived objects, and all the qualities that 
make them what they are, the mental movement of numeri- 
cal abstraction and generalization, which alone results in 
numerical ideas, is either impeded, or absolutely arrested. 
But let the child be interested in finding the how much of 
some quantity; then, in his operation of counting and meas- 
uring he will inevitably 'drop the qualitative and consider 
only the quantitative aspect.' Every parent has seen the 
little one counting the groups of familiar things about him; 
has seen and rejoiced in it as indicating a higher energy 
struggling for expression. . . . When our playmates 
challenged us to a comparison of treasures, of playthings 
. . . we emptied our capacious pockets of all that they 
contained — common marbles, china alleys, jewsharps, knives, 
tops, whistles, pea-shooters, and so on — motley quantities 
they were; but they were quantities; quantities needing meas- 
urement to decide the question as to who was the richer or 
richest boy. Was ours then an arithmetic of the qualitative 
or the quantitative sort? . . . We saw in an instant 
that top, marble, and whistle, and knife, whatever their 
qualitative differences, were all alike in this — they were 
playthings — and therefore each contributed its part in mak- 
ing up the 'how many' which defined the 'how much', the 
end and purpose we had in view." 

In the matter of facts, McClellan is correct; but he 
overestimates plainly the abstractive faculties of the young 
child. This primitive counting is based not so much upon 
measurement as upon the series idea. Boys, when interested in 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 139 

measurement, have already touched the threshold of mathe- 
matical reasoning, and cannot be said to be still on the level 
of rudimentary concepts. 

Dr. Paul Carus contributes these observations to the prob- 
lem under discussion: 

"My experience is that children will, without the slightest 
trouble, learn to count first to 12, then to 20. When they 
have learnt to count to 20, they are prepared to count to 
any number up to 100 or more. The third step is an intel- 
lectual step, by learning to understand the function of the 
decades 30, 40, 50, etc., which are, however, clearly grasped 
as running parallel with 3, 4, 5, and so forth." 

This counting is not necessarily bound up with objects. 
It is in its nature rhythmical, neither qualitative, nor truly 
quantitative, in the sense in which Prof. McClellan uses 
these terms. Says Dr. Carus: 

"One peculiar phase in learning how to count is marked 
by the child's ability to stop at the right time. Children 
first acquire the mechanical memory of saying 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 
etc. When they are shown five spoons or five chips or other 
things of any description and are requested to count them, 
they begin to count mechanically without being able to stop 
at the right time. It indicates a more advanced degree of 
mentality when the child possesses a perfect parallelism be- 
tween the names of the numbers and the things which, by 
being pointed at, are to be counted. The process of counting 
has reached its maturity when a child learns to stop at the 
proper time. In the beginning the tendency will predomin- 
ate that whenever the child begins to count, it will count the 
whole series of numbers as far as it knows them; but the 
relation between the things and the series of word-images 
of the numerals is easily established by stopping the child 
and summing up the situation by saying: There are five 
spoons, there are five chips, or whatever it may be." 

Counting is automatically induced by the rhythmical 
movements of the body — breathing, heart-beat, walking, the 
swinging of arms in walking, etc. We are bound up in 
rhythm — our life is a rhythmical series. To what minute 
extent this is true, and how the fate of our existence depends 



Ho THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

upon this individual rhythm of each one of us, has quite 
recently been brought to light by the investigations of the 
Austrian professor Swoboda on the "Critical Days of Man." 
This natural life series has given rise to the number series; 
the names are but symbols, mnemonic signs, serving as cogs 
to the memory. In this sense, the concept of time is gained 
by counting, as a rhythmical succession. This concept is 
very hazy in the beginning. The historic sense, conditioned 
as it is by the time concept, depends in the beginning of its 
evolution upon tallying and concrete helps which characterize 
the early records, transmitted first orally, and then in some 
symbolic form. The sense of space is also conditioned by the 
rhythmical movements of the body in walking, counting the 
steps. 

The idea of real number develops very slowly. Prof. Th. 
Ribot, in his researches concerning the intelligence of ani- 
mals, speaks of the perception of plurality as distinct from 
numeration. The former is found in animals. The logic 
of animals, or rather the sole kind of logic possible without 
speech, is the logic of images. This is refractory to attempt 
at substitution, as of signs for concrete facts. Even elemen- 
tary arithmetical problems, it must be noted, are worked out 
by using the logic of signs, replacing the concrete facts by 
figures, and working out the relations of these. "The child", 
says the same author elsewhere, "may recite a series of nu- 
merical words that have been taught him ; but so long as he 
fails to apply each term of the series correctly to a number 
of corresponding objects, he does not understand it. . . . 
This comprehension is only acquired slowly and at a some- 
what late period. . . . The child appreciates by space 
and not by number." 

Of this last statement, more will be said presently. 

To understand more clearly the painful slowness which 
characterizes the development of numeration out of the per- 
ception of plurality, we may remember the development of 
the ideas of singular, dual, and plural. To quote again from 
Ribot: "Nothing appears more natural and clear-cut than 
the distinction between one and several ; as soon as we exceed 
pure unity, the mother of numbers, plurality appears to us 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 141 

to be homogeneous in all its degrees. It has not been so from 
the beginning. This is proved by the existence of the dual 
in an enormous number of languages. . . . One, two, 
were counted with precision ; the rest was vague. Accord- 
ing to Sayce, the word 'three' in Aryan language at first 
signified 'what goes beyond.' It has been supposed that the 
dual was at first applied to the paired parts of the body: 
the eyes, the arms, the legs. Intellectual progress caused it 
to fall into disuse." 

The slow development of clear number conceptions is 
paralleled by the tardy invention of handy methods of fig- 
uring. It is not even necessary to go back to the primitive 
methods of using fingers, knotted cords, abacus, and other 
concrete helps. Even the Roman notation throws obstacles 
in the way of the mathematician of which we have hardly 
a conception now. How irrational appears the Roman form 
in comparison with the Arabic notation in this simple prob- 
lem: 

XI 11 

XL 40 



LI 51 

Giving just one example of an ancient method of reckon- 
ing we may select the Egyptian as typical. In spite of the 
fact that the ancient Nile valley dwellers were wonderful 
architects and were quite advanced in astronomy and re- 
ligious philosophy, they worked their examples largely by a 
series of additions, splittings of fractions, and with the help 
of tables of doubles, etc. For instance, if one wished to 
find out how many times 7 is contained in 77, he must use 
the following table of factors of 7 : 



"2 14" 

4 28 

*8 56* 

16 112 etc., etc. 



i 4 2 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

Those numbers are marked with asterisks whose sum on 
the right is 77, and the sum of the corresponding numbers 
on the left is the answer. They therefore substituted an 
addition process for one of division. The ancient Egyptian 
calculators seem to have preferably used multiples and sub- 
multiples of 2. Thus, to divide 19 by 8, the following ta- 
ble of factors was used: 



I 

*2 


8 
16 


% 4 


* l A 


2 


*Vs 


1 



As 16+2+1=19, the quotient sought was accordingly 
2+^4+^6, or 2%. Fractions with numerators greater 
than unity seem not to have been employed. For the solu- 
tion of what would to us seem a simple algebraic problem, 
the Egyptian calculator would probably have had to consult 
half a dozen different tables of factors.* 

The movements with which young children accompany 
their counting — tapping, pounding, etc., indicate that coun- 
ing is a motor act. Number is the result of repetition. It is 
therefore evident that even this side of the mathematical de- 
velopment is based upon concrete activity. 

Ribot claims that the child appreciates by space and not by 
number. Early number conceptions, involving the idea of 
magnitude proper, are in reality space conceptions. This is 
also corroborated by the curious "number forms" with which 



*A very instructive treatise on primitive and ancient meth- 
ods of calculation and the development of the number con- 
cepts in the past and in the child is contained in Vol. VIII 
of the Science History of the Universe, Current Literature 
Publ. Co., 1909. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 143 

most people, more or less unconsciously, accompany their 
ideas of number. A very instructive study of these "num- 
ber forms" has been published in the American Journal of 
Psychology, by D. E. Phillips. He writes: "Without doubt 
children tend to connect some movement or extension in 
space with numbers, and it is here that we are to find the 
genesis of number forms. Back of any visual image seen by 
the mind's eye is the motor element in thought, which must 
have space as background." 

But these space concepts are very indefinite in the begin- 
ning. They contain little of attempted measurement, only 
perhaps a crude comparison of distance and aggregation, or 
perhaps only of form in general. The idea of ratio as such 
is still rudimentary. 

However, this consideration introduces the second source 
of mathematical conceptions: measurement, i. e. geometrical 
perception. And here suggestions like Speer's have their 
place if they are supplemented by manual exercises of various 
kinds. Elementary geography has decided geometrical fea- 
tures — the relation of objects in the room, position, etc., are 
all elements to be considered. 

Now, the real problem seems to be: which of these pro- 
cesses precedes the other in the mathematical evolution of 
the child? And it is this problem over which the greatest 
diversity of opinion has been expressed, from the time of the 
famous Report of the Committee of Fifteen to this day. 

As is the case in so many discussions, both contending 
opinions are perhaps right to some extent, and the truth can 
be found midway between them. It may be difficult to de- 
cide absolutely which one of the two operations, counting or 
measuring, or quantitative and qualitative arithmetic, is 
chronologically prior to the other. In all likelihood, the two 
processes develop partways alongside of each other, without 
at first being logically connected. To follow them up in 
their distinctive evolution will require more exact psycho- 
logic data than there are at hand. Primitive counting, cer- 
tainly, does not consider quality, but is a mechanical, or per- 
haps physiological, series, and the objects serve as artificial 
cogs, as the primitive knotted cord. 



144 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

The rhythmic movements of the body which are at the 
basis of counting, have possibly induced the idea of space and 
time relations, and with them the process of comparison and 
measurement in space and time. At any rate, the higher 
conceptions of number rest on motor and space elements 
that have a qualitative interest. From there, the still higher 
abstraction is made towards the conception of pure quantity, 
quantity as free from qualitative elements. 

This suggests that in the youngest years of the child's 
school life, including at least the so-called first grade, we 
should be satisfied mainly with crude exercises in counting 
and tallying, together with some memory drill in the multipli- 
cation tables, for the sake of storing up material. Little or no 
rationalization, or "example" work, should be attempted. 
Many children will need patience, and long toleration of 
crude conceptions, thru the greater part of their school life. 

For the development of real mathematical conceptions, 
ideas of number and magnitude, manual work and actual 
measurements of all kinds will form the safest basis, and this 
may be done somewhat independently, alongside with count- 
ing. 

The artificial (logical) sequence of exercises as found in 
our schools is largely unwarranted. The method of presen- 
tation is really more important than the "logical" grading 
of problems. Yet, we may remember the sequence of the 
four processes as described by Jackman. In a simple way, 
these processes may be introduced simultaneously, and carried 
on in concentric circles. Care should be taken not to mix 
the processes unduly, as is often done, e. g. when a pretense 
is made to teach decimals when in reality they are treated 
as common fractions. For example: when 0.25 is treated as 
if it read Y\. It is equal to %, and the child may be made 
to see that; but the decimal fraction must not be handled 
in operation like a common fraction. Correlation is not 
identical with mixing and confusing. 

As to method, the following hints may here suffice: 

Of the first suggestion: correlation with everything the 
child does, nothing need to be said here, as there are ample 
references to this requirement in these pages. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 145 

An objective basis will be established if really practical 
examples accompany all work. Practical in this sense refers 
to experience and actual work done. Nature observations, 
weather records, experiments, manual exercises, geographical 
and historical data, etc., etc., will furnish an abundance of 
problems. Cardboard work, cutting out of forms in soft 
material and wood, and similar work, will serve as an em- 
piric basis for geometry. Constructive games and puzzles, 
arithmetical games and riddles, and the like, will appeal to 
the great puzzle interest of the children. 

Within the province of mathematical work, there should 
be established an interrelation of geometry and algebra with 
arithmetic. Geometrical and constructive puzzles precede 
purely numerical puzzles in the interest curve of children. 

The relation between the three forms of mathematical 
cognition and operation which are kept logically distinct by 
the adult mind and the philosopher, but which should not be 
pedantically separated with the child, should be constant. 
We should at every stage use the method best adapted to 
an easy and lucid solution of the problem in hand. Short 
cuts are welcome whenever the child can see thru them, 
even tho he may not be able to reason them out absolutely 
with a whereas and therefore. The intuitive method of 
children need not be too much discouraged. The algebraic 
notions of equation, parenthesis, and the unknown quantity 
x, can be employed to great advantage even in the earlier 
years. 

We must understand that the concrete work here recom- 
mended is to furnish the apperceptive basis. There is beyond 
doubt need of drill in operations and memory work — in 
quick perception and rapid solution. The aim must surely 
be to develop the faculty of abstract reasoning, apart from a 
clearer perception of objective work. Prof. J. T. McCor- 
mack said in one of his thoughtful essays: "Natural arith- 
metical machines have been in use among savage and civilized 
nations from the earliest time. Their employment, however, 
from our present advanced point of view, denoted rather an 
inferior than a superior stage of intellectual development. 
The fingers, strings of beads, knots in cords, notches in 



i 4 6 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

sticks, etc., etc., were the means primitively employed in com- 
putation ; counting was a motor act, an act of sense, and not 
one of the intellect ; the results were the actual things added 
or subtracted, and not symbols representing those results. 
The original intellectual advance, therefore, consisted rather 
in the abolition of this primitive machinery and in the sub- 
stitution for it of a procedure which was mainly psychical 
and mnemonic, involving a mechanical knowledge of the 
simple combinations of numbers, of the multiplication table, 
and of the use of pencil and paper." 

These statements throw much light upon the problem as 
discussed in this chapter. From the standpoint of the mathe- 
matical philosopher, indeed, these objective helps denote in- 
ferior intellectual development. But the child below twelve 
is still in the primitive mental stage, and the rationalization 
and abstraction of number cannot advantageously be forced 
before its time. 

Hodge, in his study of the homing of pigeons, was led to 
investigate the natural logic of search. Believing that those 
animals survive who have developed the most exhaustive 
methods of searching a given area for food, he sought to 
discover how nearly the procedure of carrier pigeons ap- 
proximates the ideal. For comparative determinations he 
devised the following experiment which was chiefly tried by 
children and adults. A ball is so hidden in a square field 
that it can be seen when the observer is 20 feet distant. From 
the stake at the center as a starting point, what is the best 
method of finding the ball ? The mathematically best method 
is a path of spiral shape, the distance between the lines being 
40 feet. This involves practically no researchings. Another 
logical method is that of a series of straight paths gridironing 
the field in a way. This involves the searching of some areas 
a second time. There are simpler logical methods, but they 
need not be mentioned. As to results, most of the adults ap- 
proximated very nearly the theoretical curve. A boy of 
twelve, however, starts for the fence, follows it for some 
distance, then turning in, discovers the ball by accident. His 
curve is somewhat logical but naturally of a lower degree 
than those of adults. Tests of a number of children vary- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 147 

ing in age from 3 to 12 show surprisingly little logic. The 
tracings of a bright six-year-old girl resembled the tracings 
of Lubbock's ants, revealing scarcely a trace of system, and 
were full of researchings of areas already searched time and 
again. After 75 minutes, she still failed to find the ball 
which adults discovered in from 4 to 12 minutes. 

When the time comes that the faculty of true reason- 
ing and abstract thinking arises, then the children will take 
great pleasure in wrestling with these problems. At this 
time, the pubescent period, intense work ought to be done, 
and the scientific aspects of geometry and algebra may be 
introduced, and mathematical laws formulated. Some sexual 
differentiation will have to be considered in accordance with 
the suggestions recorded elsewhere. 

But before that time, it should be repeated, the children 
have very little appreciation of law and abstraction. 

It is not merely for its intellectual value that mathematics 
deserves a high place in the curriculum of the school, pro- 
vided it is taught with an understanding of child nature; 
but also for its ethical significance. Mathematics involves 
precise cognition; it makes, as Pestalozzi expressed it, for 
truth. The recognition of truth, as scientifically distinct 
from error and tentative conjecture, grows slowly in the 
young mind. First it is approached thru doing and trying 
concrete things; this is the stage of crude empiricism, which 
is half unconscious and automatically intuitive. It is de- 
pendent upon an early training in right life habits. This 
non-reasoning period is largely furnishing the degree of fa- 
cility which is the prerequisite of successful handling of the 
material when the rational period sets in. In the rational 
stage, truth is recognized to be a matter of law and order, of 
causative sequence, of patient toil, of a surrender of personal 
idiosyncrasies. Paradoxically it may be said that while the 
child is in the objective stage, truth is subjective to him, a 
matter of personal equation ; after outgrowing the primitive 
stage, and objective cogs; after evolving his truly human 
personality; he recognizes that truth is not subjective, but ob- 
jective, the same for all. And this development from con- 
crete empiricism to reason marks a decided ethical gain. 



CHAPTER IX 

Geography as a Collective Center 

GEOGRAPHY, as a description of the earth, 
includes natural history. As a science, geogra- 
phy includes natural science. Considered from 
the standpoint of evolution, it embraces the his- 
tory of the earth: geology, mineralogy, and the 
origin and development of life, up to man. Thus it com- 
prises biology and history. 

As physiography, it helps to explain historical events in 
their causality. For the earth is the habitation of man, and 
man's life is conditioned in a great measure by the configu- 
ration of land and sea, and by the products of both, by cli- 
mate, etc. 

These conditions change. Physiographic changes throw 
light upon events which would otherwise be unintelligible to 
us. Thermopylae is now no longer the narrow pass be- 
tween mountain and sea that it was at the time of the heroic 
struggle of the Spartans under Leonidas, and we could not 
understand that event had we no knowledge of the physio- 
graphic history of the location; and Ostia, at the present 
time an inland town, can no longer be recognized as the one 
time "mouth" (ostium) of the Tiber. 

Geography further relates to the earth as a unit in space; 
to the universe of which it is a part : this leads to astronomy. 

Astronomy depends upon mathematics; in fact it repre- 
sents the greatest triumph of mathematics. The terms longi- 
tude and time introduce mathematical geography. Geometry 
is the science of measuring the earth; it is the science of 
distance relations; it mediates the conception of space, and 

148 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 149 

of form in space. Earth measuring, again, is conditioned 
by a knowledge of the points of the compass; this introduces 
the study of magnetism and electricity. The study of the 
seasons, of climate, of isotherms, etc., opens up the science 
of meteorology. 

Geography thus proves its claim to be considered as a 
collective center of study ; in its complete sense it is compre- 
hensive and full of diversified stimulations of interest. 

Geography study depends on the sense of cause and effect, 
and the sense of space. Both develop slowly in the child. 
"Alice in Wonderland" and "Thru the Looking Glass" 
illustrate fitly the wild guesses and beliefs as to possible 
locations and conditions characteristic of the child. His 
imaginary world is not hedged in by space limitations. He 
is living in a fairy land where cause and effect have no log- 
ical coherence, and where the impossible is possible. He sees 
no objection to big things being enclosed in small compass, 
e. g. a spacious palace in what is outside but a small, low 
hut; or to little things extending over vast space, as Hop 
o' my Thumb in his Seven Miles Boots. We, as adults, may 
discover a wonderful symbolism in these tales; the child 
takes them as reality. 

Again when confronted with the reality of things, his limit 
seems soon to be reached. As the train stopped at Thornton 
on the first railroad excursion of the Chicago Vacation 
Schools, one little miss whose ideas of the geography and the 
size of America were somewhat hazy, whispered in awe- 
struck voice to the teacher: "Is this still the United 
States?" 

What a change comes over us when we grow older in 
regard to our conception of space, is evident from the well- 
known observation that things which looked very big to us 
when we were small, now seem surprisingly insignificant. 

In building up geographical concepts, we must consider 
and establish the proper apperceptive basis. It will not be 
amiss to repeat here what was said in a previous chapter:* 

"From the concrete material in the immediate environment 

♦Page 84. 



1 5 o THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

of the child, from the images of his own house and lawn, the 
trees, hills, rocks, valleys, creeks, rivers, ponds, etc. ; of peo- 
ple he knows and occupations he sees carried on ; of natural 
processes like water running down his own hill, of dirt 
washed down the watersheds of his own road, of toy boats 
floating in his gutter, etc., etc., from all this he must learn 
to construct in his mind concepts of things remote, of the 
Himalayas, the oceans, foreign people, and all the wonder- 
ful things that make up the life of nature and man. Words, 
names, pictures, samples of material even, maps, and the like, 
are nothing but symbols, meaningless to him unless he can 
connect them with real experiences of his own." 

Too much reliance upon maps, pictures, or descriptions, 
from geographies, or by word of mouth, is therefore unwise. 
There must first be observation and experiment to furnish 
the concrete basis. 

Opportunity for these, as far as the school can afford it, 
will be rendered by systematically organized excursions, the 
proper use of the sandtable, and later the laboratory. As 
soon as possible, observations should be carefully recorded. 
Home geography is the natural starting point; and we must 
confine ourselves to concrete experiences for a long while 
before venturing out on the making of inferences. 

All sorts of illustrative material are welcome in conjunc- 
tion with the objective work: collections of flowers, animals, 
and birds, shells, pictures, dressed dolls, etc. The making 
of illustrative work, the building up of scenery and physio- 
graphic configuration on the sandtable, leading up to as- 
sembled work as described in Chapter VII, will be of partic- 
ular and concrete reality. 

Maps should first be developed by the children from ex- 
perience. Their walks can be illustrated and reproduced 
on the sandtable, with buildings put in of wood and card- 
board. The sandtable reproduction may then serve as the start- 
ing point for map making and map reading. In order to take 
but one step at a time and not produce the illusion that north 
is invariably at the top, it will be well to present the first 
maps on the horizontal plane, in exact agreement with the 
natural directions, and then proceed to vertical maps which 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 151 

should be hung in very different positions. How difficult it 
is for an ordinary mortal who had been taught geography prin- 
cipally from maps placed before him in the traditional posi- 
tion, to recognize a country when there is any deviation from 
this position, will at once become evident as soon as we try 
to recognize bits of country with the map turned around at 
a greater or lesser angle. Such difficulties and absurdities 
should be avoided from the start. 

Let us not abstract too early. The fact that a child knows 
what a ball is does not enable him to understand the earth to 
be a big ball. Yet, the globe is often introduced in very 
young grades, and recently attempts have been made, even 
by persons bearing illustrious names, to teach to the babes 
of the kindergarten the celestial movements by symbolic 
games. The effect of such premature abstractions, no matter 
how much we try to symbolize, is largely illusory. An ex- 
periment was undertaken in the second grade of the Ethical 
Culture Schools some years ago to test the conceptions of the 
children in regard to matters of this sort. They were taught 
the form of the earth to be round like a ball; each child 
had an opportunity of seeing and handling a large globe; 
and every effort was made, in traditional fashion, to develop 
the idea. They seemed to grasp it and talked glibly about it. 
A little while later, apparently without connection with the 
geography lesson, they were requested to write out their 
conception of the earth, and what would happen if they 
would set out to travel from New York as far as they 
could. The surprise of the teacher who imagined that she had 
successfully developed the idea of the earth's roundness, was 
complete. For a large number of the children gave descrip- 
tions and expressed conceptions very suggestive of primitive 
notions. They would come to the end of the earth and 
fall off, or not get any farther, etc., etc. As the papers 
were not preserved I cannot give actual quotations or sub- 
mit statistics; but the experiment showed that what the 
children had seemingly learned and mastered was a con- 
glomeration of words and symbols, without much real sig- 
nificance to them. They were not mature enough to grasp 
the abstraction, and when properly tested they proved that 



1 5 2 THE CAREER OF THE* CHILD 

they were still intellectually on the level of primitive cul- 
ture. 

As the earth is of interest to us mainly, yea almost exclu- 
sively, because it is the abode of man, there must be a con- 
stant reference to man's development on earth, in other 
words, a close interrelation with history. 

In venturing to outline a course in geography, the author 
wishes merely to present some suggestive details, also indi- 
cating, in a general way, the succession of topics. 

first grade: 

Observe the sun in morning and afternoon. Points of 
compass developed : first east and west, then north and south. 
Mark walls with points of compass. Direction of wind. 
Weather charts. 

Read typical expressions and terms, such as the points of 
the compass, or words like "fair", "cloudy", etc., from the 
blackboard. Construction of same words with cardboard 
letters or other devices. Later in course, typesetting may be 
introduced. 

Days of the week; count weeks; then introduce month, 
and names of months; count days in month; date. (Naming 
and counting periods.) 

On level surface (work table), outline with blocks 
schoolroom from measurements, foot reduced to inch (idea 
of scale) ; count tables and chairs, mark their position by 
using blocks (cubes of Fifth Gift, and multiples). 

Then mark same on sandtable, with lines scratched in. 
This is the second step towards symbolic representation. 

Then draw same, with coarse pencil, on a level sheet of 
manila paper (inch net, or rule; always same scale) : third 
step. 

The fourth step is reached when the map is reproduced on 
the black board, with the help of ruler at first. This marks 
transition from horizontal to vertical plane, or map. Dif- 
ferent positions of the map on board. Introduction of draw- 
ing distances, or lengths, by sight. 

Study direction of street; mark it on sandtable, following 
natural direction. Indicate schoolhouse by block, or by 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 153 

building cardboard house. 

Develop idea of square (block) of houses and cross streets. 
Way home and to school: count number of blocks; names 
of streets in neighborhood. Reading and setting of these 
names, as well as of previously learned names. Reproduce 
location on sandtables or worktable with blocks. Rough 
drawing on manila sheet. 

Walks thru the city; discussion of reminiscences. Repro- 
duction of locations remembered (squares, parks, fountains, 
music-stands, public buildings, etc.) on sand table, with 
blocks, clay-models, cut-out figures, and the like. 

Building-blocks for fancy reproductions and free play; 
then introduction of architectural ideas. 

Modern buildings and primitive dwellings. Constructions 
in school yard. Connection with history and literature. 

Paper-cutting of familiar objects, scenes, events, etc. 

Watch domestic animals, common birds, simple wild and 
garden flowers, and note location, migration, and conditions 
of life. Seasons. 

The lands of winter, summer, spring, fall, in myths and 
fairy tales. 

Principal types of men: white, black, red, brown, yellow. 

SECOND GRADE : 

Same things observed and discussed on a higher plane. 

From home to school. 

In clay, home and schoolhouse. Paper-cutting of same. 

General idea and plan of city and environment (not too 
many details of streets, etc.!), on sandtable, with representa- 
tion of rivers, hills, principal buildings, etc. 

Relief maps in sand, of ranges of hills, etc. 

Special scenes represented: public parks, squares, mills, 
ponds, waterworks, and the like. 

Observe "that the rills flowing in wheel-ruts widen them 
and carry the washings to the nearest mud-puddle." Watch 
rivers and brooks in spring; observe the current. Idea of 
elevation and watershed; movement of the water; hills and 
valleys. 

Observe rain and clouds; thunderstorms, hail. 



i 5 4 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

In winter, lessons, with experiments, on water, ice, snow. 

In summer, the same on air (balloon, etc.). 

Protection from weather. Idea of home-building: nests, 
huts, tents (make same). Furnish doll's house. Miniature 
carpentry. (Cf. manual training course.) 

Roads; railroads. Idea of distance, and of distant settle- 
ments. 

Sunrise and sunset; motion of stars at night. Directions. 

Creation myths (cf. subsequent chapter). Gradual prep- 
aration for idea of globe in space. 

THIRD GRADE: 

Watching ships on ocean and lake; or, moving trains, 
wagons, etc., on plains. Story of Columbus. Large globe 
to experiment with. 

"Little Lucy's Wonderful Globe." "The Seven Little 
Sisters." "Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard." 

Concentration on reading and writing. — 

Sun, moon, stars ; constellations. 

Some nature study, on common things, perhaps in connec- 
tion with last book mentioned above; Horace H. Cummings' 
"Nature Study by Grades" is well adapted to connect geo- 
graphy and nature in this and in other classes. 

Travel. Robinson Crusoe. Typical occupations. 

Build house and barn ; make doll's house for Second 
Grade. Figure out material necessary for this work. Com- 
bination of wood-work (sawing and knife), parquetry, paper 
cutting, and pasting. 

Miniature carpentry: garden tools, fence, hay-wagon, etc. 
Model animals and dolls to represent various scenes. 

FOURTH GRADE: 

Excursions thru city and surrounding country on different 
kinds of vehicles of transportation, to get empiric notions 
of travel, of life conditions, interesting places, centres of 
trade within the limit of observations, manufacture, farming, 
public institutions, etc. Apperceptive basis for following 
work: 

Imaginary work : Roaming thru the world. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 155 

(a) Noted cities and buildings, bridges, etc., showing 
man's conquest of nature; 

(b) Nature's beauties (cataracts, mountains, rivers, etc.). 

(c) Inventions — from the potter's wheel and the primi- 
tive loom to modern machines (sewing machines, mariner's 
compass, steamboats, railroads, electric cars, electric light, 
telephone and telegraph, automobiles, flying machines.) 

Idea of commerce and communication. 

Biographies of the inventors will '"humanize" this work. 

Bits of history from all lands. 

fifth grade: 

Summary of early experiences. 

Study of the heavens and the simple facts of astronomy. 
Seasons, weather, climate. 

Concentration upon geography of North America. 

Survey of South America. Map modeling and drawing. 
Shaded maps in color. The vertical and horizontal planes. 

sixth grade: 

( 1 ) The Mediterranean Basin and the Nile Valley, as the 
scenes of early civilization. 

(2) Progress of geographical knowledge. 

(3) The globe. 

(4) Beginning of mathematical geography. 

SEVENTH GRADE: 

Intense work. 

Migration of people. Study of Europe. In connection 
with Crusades and Discoveries, geography of the countries 
concerned. 

Commercial geography; ideas of food, clothing, shelter; 
manufacturing; export and import. The great staples. 
This to be continued in Eighth. 

Distribution of flora and fauna. 

Physiography; geology; minerology. Experiments. Math- 
ematical geography. 

EIGHTH GRADE: 

Detailed study of the United States. 



156 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

The bird's eye view of the earth and the world as the 
home of man, taken in the previous grades and summed up 
in the highest, leads up to a particularized reference to the 
mother country. The aim here should be to imbue the pupil 
with a clear view of its proportional significance in the 
sum total of human interests, and also to develop true 
patriotism, and love of country, as distinct from what has 
been called chauvenism and Jingoism. 

"Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself hath said, 
This is my own, my native land! 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, 
As home his footsteps he hath turned, 
From wandering on a foreign strand !" 

(Scott, "Lady of the Last Minstrel"). 

And few countries are so favored as ours, appeal so much 
to the sense of just appreciation of her unusual advantages 
and glories. Here, the destiny of the race seems to be ful- 
filled ; here the representatives of all civilized nations of the 
world are meeting on common ground, to evolve, in the form 
of a new nation, the ideal of humanity, by each offering its 
best, all blending together, and adjusting themselves to a 
common aim. 

"O beautiful and grand 
My own, my native land! 

Of thee I boast: 
Great Empire of the West, 
The dearest and the best, 
Made up of all the rest, 

I love thee most!" 

(Abraham Coles). 



T 



CHAPTER X 

History as a Collective Center 
HIS passage is from G. Ebers' "The Sisters": 

"Behold, the puny Child of Man 
Sits by Time's boundless sea, 

And gathers in his feeble hand 
Drops of Eternity. 

"He overhears some broken words 

Of whispered mystery — 
He writes them in a tiny book 

And calls it 'History' ! 

"We owe these verses to an accomplished friend; another 
has amplified the idea by adding the two that follow : 

"If indeed the puny Child of Man 
Had not gathered drops from that wide sea, 

Those small deeds that fill his little span, 
Had been lost in dumb Eternity. 

"Feeble is his hand, and yet it dare 
Seize some drops of that perennial stream ; 

As they fall they catch a transient gleam — 
Lo! Eternity is mirrored there!" 

It is well that we should, at the outset, fix this thought 
in our minds. No other study relates the human soul so 
closely to the eternal powers that make for perfection and 

157 



158 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

righteousness, as does history. It reveals to us the laws 
which govern human existence, and each event is a link in a 
grand evolutionary chain leading up to the ideal. History 
discloses to us the sequence of human ideals of perfection as 
they unfolded themselves in the mind of man from crude 
beginnings when he but dimly discerned the force that urged 
him along the arduous road of progress, down to our own 
times when we imagine to understand better than ever before 
these divine promptings. 

"After death," says Sadie E. Simons, in Educational Value 
of Biography, "the great man of the tribe is idealized, and 
with the passing of years he develops into the type admired 
by the particular people among whom he once lived. This 
type in the course of centuries becomes farther and farther 
removed from its source, until we can scarcely discover its 
origin. Who is Arthur, Siegfried, or Roland but the ideal 
man of his respective age and land?" (Educ. Review, Jan., 

1899.) 

Each epoch in human evolution is characterized by the 
ideal types of manhood which it matured, either in actuality 
or as a spiritual goal. Man as a national chief or a tribal 
god, as a citizen in a democracy or leader in the struggle for 
advance and greatness, man as a spiritual hero and teacher 
of better things — man in all his various phases of active liv- 
ing, stands out from the pages of history and teaches the 
lesson that uplifts, and fills our hearts with courage and 
hope. The lesson of history is concentrated and sublimated 
in the study of civics and ethics which open up a future of 
greater perfection and beatitude, when man will carry the 
banner of civilization to still loftier heights, "that banner 
with the strange device: Excelsior!" 

Human development is conditioned by natural laws. Says 
the geographer Redway:* 

"At some time in the near future the teacher of history 
will doubtless discover what the critical student of history 
has already made the basis of study, namely: that history is 
nothing more than an echo of the operation of geographical 



*Educ. Rev., November, 1894. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 159 

laws ; that humankind as well as other organic life is a slave 
to hunger; that all migrations and dispersions of peoples are 
merely quantitative expressions of moisture and temperature; 
and the nationalism of government is merely a machinery for 
the rapid and equitable distribution of food. These are not 
only fundamental principles of history, but they are none the 
less principles of physiographic science as well." 

Thus the interrelation of history with geography, with the 
distribution of the flora and fauna, with the climatic condi- 
tions, as well as on the other hand with literature, civics 
and ethics in which the ideals of successive periods have found 
their expression, is clearly seen. 

The interest in history dates back to the time when man 
became conscious of himself. Ancestor worship marks the 
beginnings of history no less than of religion. Tribal and 
national heroes became gods, and shared with the forces of 
nature the first stammering reverence of pristine peoples. 
The bards who sang the deeds of heroes and gods were not 
only the first poets, but also the first historians; the rude in- 
scriptions on tombs and rocks were the first records. 

But the true historic sense was slow of growth. Fear and 
fancy composed the first records; credulity and superstition 
brought forth innumerable fabulations. Thru legend and 
myth, the human mind rose in a long struggle with its own 
misconceptions to a sense for certainty and truth. The 
notions of time and space evolved but gradually to distinct- 
ness and scientific accuracy. 

Hazy as the ideas of primitive man were, so are the 
child's. 

"Children appear to have very vague ideas about the past. 
On the one hand, as in the case of their measurements of 
space, their standard of time is not ours; an hour, say the 
first morning at school, may seem an eternity to a child's 
consciousness. The days, the months, the years, seem to fly 
faster and faster as we get older. On the other hand, as in 
the case of space judgment, too, the child, thru his inability 
to represent time, on a large scale, is apt to bring the past 
too near the present. Mothers and young teachers would 
be surprised if they knew how children interpreted their first 



160 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

historical instruction introduced by the common phrase: 
'Many years ago,' or similar expressions". (James Sully, 
"Studies of Childhood") 

In a delightful little story, apparently a fond father's con- 
fession, "W. V.— Her Violets", By Wm. Canton, (Mc- 
Clures, August, 1897) we read: 

"As we wander along I think of all the change which has 
taken place since last I recorded our birthday rambles in the 
Forest. It is only a year ago, and yet how amazingly W. V. 
has grown in a twelve-month! Even to her the Forest is 
no longer quite the same vague enchanted region it used to 
be. Strange people have started up out of history and in- 
vaded its green solitude; on the outskirts 'ancient Britons', 
tattoed with blue woad, have made clearings and sown corn, 
and 'old Romans' have run a long straight 'street' thru 
one portion of it. There still lingers in her heart a coy 
belief in little green plaid oak-men, and flower-elves, and 
subtle sylvan creatures of fancy ; indeed, it was only the other 
day that she asked me, 'How does the sun keep up in the 
sky? Is it hanging on a fairy tree?' but I notice a growing 
impatience at sham stories and a preference for what has 
really happened, — 'something about the Romans or the 
Danes or the Saxons or Jesus.' When I begin some wonder- 
ful saga, she looks up alertly, 'True'? — then settles down to 
her enjoyment. . . . 

"In spite of her devotion to history and love of truth, I 
fear W. V. cannot be counted on for accuracy. What am I 
to say when, in a rattle-pate mood, she tells me that not only 
Julius Caesar but Oliver Cromwell was lost on board the 
'White Ship', — like needles in a haystack? Her perception of 
the lapse of time and the remoteness of events is altogether 
untrustworthy. . . . It is incomprehensible to her that 
'everyone' should have died so long ago. She does not un- 
derstand how it happens that even I, venerable as I am, did 
not know the Druids, or the Saxons, or any of those 'old 
Romans'. 'You are very old, aren't you, father? — thirty- 
four?' 'I am more than thirty-five, dear.' 'That is a lot 
older than me,' somewhat dubiously. 'Nearly six times. . .' " 

The question now arises, what is the true historic sense? 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 161 

Mrs. Mary Sheldon Barnes has attempted to answer this 
question. Says she: ("The Historic Sense among Primi- 
tive Peoples," Studies in Education, i.) : 

"The historic sense can be separated into certain elements. 
It is born wherever the human mind attains a conception of 
making a true record of real and concerted human action, 
progressive thru time and connected by cause and effect. 
Take the Sagas of the North, Herodotus, the Books of the 
Kings, Mommsen's Rome, — take anything you will that men 
call history, and you will find this to distinguish it from myth 
as history, — that it is considered as true; this to mark it 
off from biography, — that it relates to groups of men; this 
to separate it from sociology, philosophy, or literature — that 
actions are its theme, and these actions are related by cause 
and effect acting thru continuous time. . . . Thru the 
historic sense humanity becomes self-conscious and self-di- 
recting. . . . 

"To sum up: First, the knowledge which we call history 
rests upon the sense of cause and effect, the sense of the 
social unit, the sense of time, the sense of the value of a 
true record. These all appear early in vague forms, as in 
myths of origin, and all advance together, now this idea, now 
that, leading, but no one idea allowed to get positively ahead. 
Of the four, the idea of time and of the true record lag; 
and yet we find even these well developed among peoples as 
advanced as the Polynesians. ..." 

In a similar way the historic sense develops in the chil- 
dren. Rarely before ten occurs a change from belief to dis- 
belief in superstitions, and begin children to appreciate im- 
possibilities. Up to 12 their interest turns from fairy tales 
to stories of adventure and history. But not before 12 is 
there any marked tendency to search into the relations of 
cause and effect, and to care for a true record. 

I reproduce here some paragraphs from Mrs. Barnes' 
careful study of the parallelism between the primitive man 
and the child in relation to the evolution of the historic 
sense. 

" ( 1 ) As to the order in which those notions appear we see 
that among savages they appear altogether in the rudimentary 



1 62 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

form of the myths of origin, which, on placed in space, 
vaguely placed in time, attempt to give some true account 
of the beginnings of man and of the world. . . . Among 
children we find the same fact. From the age of seven on- 
ward we find them inquiring after time, cause and effect, 
the social unit, and the truthful record, — that is, all the 
elements lie within the field of the child's curiosity; and 
it is interesting to note how early they inquire after origin : 
Who made us? Where did we come from? The plain 
conclusion as to the method here is that history is a suitable 
subject for children from the age of seven at least. 

"(2) As to the sense of time we see that this sense with 
savages is based on the power to count, and the power to 
record that count concretely, either with the fingers, the 
notch stick, or the knotted cord, and that it develops along 
with the development of the inventions for keeping count ; 
in other words that this sense requires much objective assist- 
ance. With children we have seen that sense seems slight, 
and that time is badly understood until the age of twelve 
or thirteen. The conclusion as to the method is that the 
child should be assisted, as the savage was, by some concrete 
symbol or invention by which he can keep his counts in 
sight, and reckon time visibly. 

"(3) As to the notion of cause and effect, or, to put it 
differently, the power to infer, we see that both with sav- 
ages and children it is present from the beginning, but that 
it is unconscious with primitive peoples, and that with chil- 
dren the power does not become at all critical before the age 
of twelve or thirteen, and that it seems then to receive a 
positive impulse, becoming stronger as well as more exact. 
The conclusion as to method is clear, that children should 
not be especially trained or urged in inference until the ages 
of twelve or thirteen, and that then we may reasonably en- 
courage them to draw independent and correct conclusions 
from given premises. 

"(4) As to sense of the social unit, we have seen that with 
primitive peoples the sense concentrates itself about ancestors, 
heroes, kings, developing into a sense of wider personality 
as their history, that is, their experience widens. The inter- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 163 

est of the children according to the indication follows the 
same order; but, since education partially takes the place of 
experience, we cannot yet say positively at what age we may 
develop the larger interest; at present we may say not be- 
fore the age of 11 or 12. The application to method is that 
history should first interest itself with the biographies of 
heroic and striking characters who are connected with the 
previous knowledge of life of the child. . . . They 
should always be connected with that life of action which 
belongs to children and primitive people alike. These biog- 
raphies should be of men who fight and hunt and build, 
rather than of men who write or think or legislate. John 
Smith is nearer to the child than William Bradford. . . . 

"(5) The sense of a truthful record seems to be quite pos- 
itive with savages, altho it does not occur to them to sub- 
stantiate that truth by any searching criticism of evidence. 
Children, too, are very anxious to know whether a record 
or story is true or not altho they are largely contented with 
being told that it is true by a person in whom they have faith, 
not showing a tendency to inquire critically into the mat- 
ter until the ages of 12 or 13. . . . (Even the inter- 
est in "true or not" is not present in the very young 
child. G.). 

"(6) As to the forms of history we have seen that critical 
history develops last in the history of the race, being pre- 
ceded by beautiful history, moral history, and mnemonic his- 
tory, all these forms running along contemporaneously. With 
children we see that history finds natural expression in 
stories, pictures, dramatic plays and poems, with or without a 
moral. From both these sets of facts I conclude that we 
should seek our history for children in Plutarch, Homer, 
and Shakespeare, before seeking it in edited documents with 
notes and criticisms of the modern school of history. Nor 
must we forget that primitive history shows a large mnemonic 
element, appearing in lists and genealogies. This arises from 
the fact that memory requires an artificial cog, and these 
lists and genealogies supply the place of the earlier knotted 
cord. . . . The wide employment of aesthetic and di- 
dactic forms of history indicates that they should form a 



1 64 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

large element in the early presentation of our subject. On 
the aesthetic side, Homer, Ossian, the Nibelungenlied, on the 
didactic side, Plutarch and the Bible, give us plenty of ap- 
propriate material. The scientific forms must wait on the de- 
velopment of material, and also on the development of the 
critical sense; that is, until the ages of 12 and above." 

This investigation corroborates the contention that a 
course in history teaching must follow the natural stages of 
the child's mental evolution. Even in the development of the 
historic sense, children pass thru the successive forms of con- 
sciousness of the race. 

Let us also be reminded of these three things: 

(1) There must be the proper apperceptive basis, begin- 
ning with the known and proceeding to the unknown. There 
should be the proper geographical setting. On the whole, 
a going backward from present conditions to older times, by 
a process of gradual divestiture of the later accoutrements 
and forms of civilization, in reverse order of acquistion, will 
commend itself, for the earlier stages of history teaching 
at least. 

Illustrations are, in this work, a secondary help; direct 
observation is the primary requisite. Typical occupations 
should be studied, again beginning with the present form and 
going back to primitive processes, such as the children them- 
selves are capable of testing thru personal experience. They 
may be made to use a simple potter's wheel, or loom, to study 
the manipulations which led up to modern machines. 

(2) There must be, as indicated in this last suggestion, 
expression thru motor activity: making, drawing, modeling. 

(3) This again involves the principle of co-ordination. 
Further there should be no narrowing down to U. S. 

History. Children must be initiated to the universal human 
interests, to gain the proper background and perspective 
for their national growth. 

Professor Ellis (quoted before) reminds us that the pe- 
riod from 7 to 1 1 is "the period for language teaching. . 

. . It is also shown that during this period the verbal 
memory is good, reaching maximum power about its end, 
while children now are particularly interested in names," 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 165 

Mrs. Barnes shows that the "indications are at present that 
names should by all means be emphasized in our early his- 
torical work". Biographical stories, first mythological and 
legendary, or of the fairy-tale order, then approaching his- 
torical truth, should be offered all thru the elementary 
course. There are ethical truths, poetical truths, typical 
truths, to precede exact historic truths so that in the latter 
the former may be recognized. The myth of Santa Claus, 
the story of Siegfried, or of Achilles, the legend of Odin or 
Baldur, contain truths of the former order, and their presen- 
tation will pave the way for an appreciation of the scientific 
verities of religious, social, or political development, in the 
progress of civilization. 

Following is an outline of the course as it suggests itself to 
the author: 

In the Lower Grades: 

Study of the children's immediate environment as man's 
habitation. How the city or village grew from small begin- 
nings; going, as suggested before, backwards in time, to pe- 
riods when some things the child knows and perhaps thinks 
are as natural as air and water, were not ; early history ; In- 
dians, primitive life, types and races of men. 

Home-making in different lands. 

The hunter. 

The nomad. 

The planter. 

Compare with modern types: hunting, camping, farming. 

Interesting stories, centering upon individuals, from gen- 
eral history. 

Historical poetry. The interest of primitive peoples and 
children is pre-eminently epic, not lyric; consequently epic 
poetry, ballads, etc., are most appropriate at this period. 

No attempt need be made at strict chronological order. 
The children's sense of time is undeveloped, and chronology 
has little or no meaning to them. Group the work around 
central themes of ethical import, without being too pedantic 
in concentration. Many interesting detached bits will be 



1 66 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

gathered up at this time, to be organized later. 

National holidays and heroes can be taken up in between, 
in some way, as there is no logical co-ordination necessary, 
rather a co-ordination of interests, and a following up of 
the changes of emotional states. Care must be taken not to 
expand too much. Excursions should be undertaken to his- 
torical points, first of strictly local interest (site of first 
house, first bridge, etc.) then in the nearer and farther en- 
vironment. 

The city as it was, and as it grew up, may be built up on 
the sandtable. Local biographies and stories will give emo- 
tional color to the work. 

Any widening of the geographical horizon leads to un- 
known fairy-lands where only imagination, more or less ra- 
tional, can guide. First, there is no distinction made by the 
child between the possible and the impossible. He takes an 
intense interest in the wildest fancies which satisfy his desire 
to probe into all possibilities which his mind can construct. 
This is the time of Alice's Wonderland, of the Arabian 
Nights, of Gulliver's Travels. The child will revel in 
legends, myths, and fairy tales. Creation myths will lead 
over to the present conception of the earth as a globe. The 
stories of Columbus and Robinson Crusoe will prove help- 
ful in this connection. 

Then there are these topics to be introduced: travel, and 
means of travel ; sailing, steamboats ; wagons, oxteams, sleds, 
railroads. Buildings and wonders from everywhere. Con- 
stant reference is here suggested to the proposed work in 
geography as outlined in the previous chapter. 

The topics of (a) Inventions (in connection with manual 
occupations — potter's wheel, loom, tools, etc.) and (b) the 
Domestication of Animals (pet animals discussed) wall lead 
to a clearer perception of the factors in the gradual growth 
of civilization. For an organization of this knowledge as 
to space and time, we may well wait until a later period. 

In the Upper Grades: 

At about eleven when the true historic instinct dawns, 
we may enter into the colonial development of our own coun- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 167 

try, in somewhat more chronological order, and concentrate 
on an outline course in American history. The term "out- 
line", however, must be rightly understood ; it does not mean 
a skeleton, or an abstraction, but a brief and pregnant presen- 
tation of typical events and leading figures, dramatically and 
vividly pictured. 

At puberty (vi to vm grades), the awakening soul of 
the child strikes out on new paths. This is the colonizing, 
adventuresome, conquering, hero-worshipping, leader-follow- 
ing, nation-making period. The migratory instinct will 
manifest itself irresistibly in excursions, campings, and a gen- 
erally reckless mode of life. The children will organize into 
clubs or gangs, as the case may be. This is the time when 
we should develop the idea of government and organization. 

The history course should correspond to these interests. 
The nation-making epochs of history, and the great men of 
each, may be studied with profit. Take up the Nile Valley 
and the Mediterranean Basin as scenes of early civilization. 
These are some of the topics suggesting themselves : Rameses 
the Great — King Solomon — the Trojan War — Greek and 
Roman history in typical selections — Cyrus — the Migration 
of Peoples — the Vikings — Nibelungenlied — Siegfried sagas 
— Knighthood in Medieval Times — Hiawatha — Miles 
Standish — Bacon's Rebellion. This list illustrates the char- 
acter of the themes that can now be taken up, to correspond 
to the natural interests of the children at this period, partly 
in cross-sections, partly in chronological order, to unfold the 
great panorama of nation building. 

All along the literature of every epoch should be con- 
nected with the history work in concentric circles, up to the 
high school. This may be supplemented by a reading of the 
best historic novels and poetry, such as Iliad and Odyssey, 
Nibelungenlied, Sagas, Bible, Macaulay's Lays of Ancient 
Rome, Scott's, Eber's, Kingsley's novels and stories, Long- 
fellow's epics, etc. 

In conjunction with all this, the study of languages — 
German, French, Latin, later Greek — and their literatures, 
will exhibit the spirit of the different nations as it reveals it- 
self in language, and will enable the pupils to read the prin- 



168 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

cipal historic documents, or typical selections from them, in 
the original. 

In the viii grade, the work in history may be rounded 
out by a new and comprehensive study by American history, 
introducing some original research, using perhaps the 'Amer- 
ican History Leaflets" (edited by Albert Bushnell Hart and 
Edward Channing), and similar material. Then there 
should be a course in civil government. 

Civil government, if rightly taught, will not mean merely 
a presentation of so many facts and details, but the awaken- 
ing of the right ethical principles in the breasts of the young, 
for their guidance in the performance of their duties as citi- 
zens and human beings. Civics and ethics are intimately 
related in this sense. And this is the time when, in the souls 
of the children, those ideals and principles, or habits of 
thought and attitude are forming which will give character 
and tone to their actions in after life. "The universal pos- 
session of ideals," says E. G. Lancaster, in Psychology and 
Pedagogy of Adolescence, "affords an excellent opportunity 
for the educator. There are different stages. The period 
(of adolescence) is one when command should give place to 
the presentation of an ideal, and an ideal adapted to the age 
and interest of the youth. In early adolescence there needs 
to be something heroic or self-sacrificing in the ideal. . ." 
for now, thru the very forces that make the youth long for 
adventure and tests of courage, thru his tendency to submit 
to leadership, his aboriginal selfish instincts take a turn 
towards self-renunciation, by way of devotion to some per- 
son or cause, towards surrender of self to the influence of 
altruistic motives generally. 

History, to have its full beneficial effect upon character 
building, must be so presented that it opens up a perspective 
of human destiny to the child, and that it have an ethical 
bearing in reference to the problems which will confront him 
in his career thru life. Referring to the racial struggles, 
especially those between Europe and Asia, which seem to be 
drawing near, Prof. Barrett Wendell, of Harvard, in a re- 
view of Kipling's works, writes as follows: "When history, 
past or present, takes on such aspects as this, human affairs 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 169 

suddenly assume a new, startling, bewildering guise. At 
comfortable moments we are accustomed to assume that men 
of various ability control, first themselves, then one another, 
and finally the course of things on earth. At critical mo- 
ments we are beginning to know with tragic certainty that 
men, like other earthly things, are to an incalculable degree 
the sentient victims of forces, or, if you prefer, of powers 
utterly beyond human control. . . . This struggle of 
ours is with the rising tide of an oceanic eternity." 

Indeed we are in the hands of powers which we cannot 
control. Call these powers natural laws, call them God, 
call them with any exalted name you will, they are real and 
ever-present. Thus, the realization of human destiny in all 
its awe-inspiring mysteriousness dawns upon us. "Lo! 
Eternity is mirrored there!" This lesson our children must 
learn, even tho symbolically at first, for the full grasp of this 
idea, as far as it is within human reach, is left for mature 
age. 



CHAPTER XI 

Nature Work as an Objective Basis 

SPENCER calls natural science the "knowledge 
which is of most worth" as it determines the regu- 
lation of our lives and the progress of humanity and 
civilization in every particular. 
Nature must duly be considered as the appercep- 
tive basis of all other work: it furnishes the only concrete 
experience outside of emotional experience. 

As we have seen, natural science work is in reality the 
attempt to understand our physical environment, apart from 
the higher stages which lead to an appreciation of the na- 
ture even of our mental and moral qualities and functions. 
In the sense just spoken of, as referring to the physical en- 
vironment, it is geography, or intimately related to, and 
based upon geographical apperception. This is at least true 
of the elementary stage. 

In the high school there will be specialization and dif- 
ferentiation. The different branches of science will be 
studied separately and intensely, to prepare for a higher unity 
of conception: world-conception — the conception of an en- 
vironment of the highest order. 

The climbing of the ladder that leads up to this broad 
view of the universe is a slow process, and must begin with 
the training of those organs of the mind which mediate ex- 
perience. In the beginning, and really thruout, science work 
is a training of the senses to observe quickly and exactly, 
and the training of the mind to interpret truthfully. 

All concrete experience has an emotional value. In other 
words it appeals to our feelings and depends upon our inter- 
est. Experience not based on interest fails to become prop- 

170 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 171 

erly assimilated and is largely lost. 

There is, however, unconscious absorption going on all the 
time which may eventually lead to later associations creat- 
ing unexpected interests. Therefore, the proper environ- 
ment will manifest its silent influence sooner or later. Yet 
for the complete and ready internalizing of the external, 
every sense impression must rouse in our soul a correspond- 
ing emotional vibration. This emotional element is what 
has been called interest. 

Interest depends to a very large extent upon early ex- 
periences and absorptions. But there is another element in 
it: the mental condition which the individual has reached in 
the process of evolution, of awakening, or maturing. We 
must, therefore, study the successive interests dominating the 
child mind. 

Prof. Earl Barnes made, some years ago, a comprehen- 
sive study of children's interests. He first referred to Alf. 
Binet's experiments on his two girls of 2^2 and 4*^ years 
respectively, as reported in the "Revue Philosophique", 1890. 
Judging from their answers to certain selected questions, 
their greatest interest in the common objects mentioned in 
these questions, lay in their use, and in the second place, 
in their movements. They almost never described an object 
by telling its color, form, size, material, or structure. They 
gave, not its qualities, but what it was good for, and what 
it could do. Of his own experiments Prof. Barnes says 
this: 

"An examination of the papers showed that the answers 
could be grouped under the following general heads: USE, 
—a clock is to tell time; LARGER TERM,— a clock is a 
time piece; ACTION, — a clock goes tick tack; QUAL- 
ITY, — a clock is pretty; PLACE, — a clock is on the wall; 
COLOR, — a clock is yellow; FORM, — a clock is round; 
STRUCTURE,— a clock has a face and wheels; SUB- 
STANCE, — a clock is made of wood and iron. . . ." 

At 7, Barnes shows, use is far in the lead, larger term and 
action come next, but are still far behind. At 11, use is still 
the leader, while larger term has overtaken all the rest and 
is half way up to use. At 15, use and larger term are the 



172 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

leaders, larger term being a little ahead of use. Substance 
and structure have gained ground considerably since II, and 
are now about one-third of use. He continues: 

"Prof. Oliver P. Jenkins has called my attenion to the 
fact that most of the definitions of use also describe actions. 
The children describe an object by putting it in action, so 
as to satisfy their own particular desire or needs.* 'A horse 
is what takes us riding,' or A knife is good to cut bread 
with,' illustrates this combined use and action. . . . 
With the children of all ages substance and structure are 
hard to express. . . . 

"They show that our natural history and object lessons 
with primary children if they are to appeal to their interests 
must start with the uses and activities of objects, gradually 
lead out thru what the things can do and what they are 
made of, to their structure, form, color, etc. In work with 
objects we generally start out with the superficial qualities 
taking what Agassiz found interesting to college boys and 
applying it directly to primary children. We take an apple 
and say : What is this ? What is it covered with ? What is 
on this end? What shape has it? What color is it? etc., 
etc. This study seems to indicate that if we are to follow 
the child's natural bent we should start with the discussion 
of what the apple is good for. One of our new readers 
starts out with: 'An apple is round like a ball;' this study 
seems to say that it would be better to start with: 'The 
apple is good to eat ;' or, 'The apple grows on a tree.' . . . 

"Whether one accepts the theory that each individual lives 
over the history of the race or not, it is still interesting to 
note that in Homer or Herodotus one finds this same ten- 
dency to dwell on movement, use, and substance." 

Prof. Barnes' study shows, in his own words, that chil- 
dren's interests develop according to pretty definite laws 
which can be determined and used as a basis on which to 
build educational activity. It also shows that with young 
children we must not expect elaborate conceptions of the 



This is precisely the method Homer employs in his descrip- 
tions and comparisons. G. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 173 

things about them. One or two of the most striking attri- 
butes of an object are sufficient to identify and describe it. 

His results were later corroborated in the main features 
by experiments made by the late Prof. Edward R. Shaw, 
altho there is some little difference in terminology. 

We may put the results of these studies in another form. 
Use refers to the relation of the nature-material to man. It 
is thru the human element that we reach an interest in the 
world we live in. 

This is functionally true of young minds. The purely 
intellectual interest in science is a late development and char- 
acteristic of the very few. 

This suggests another principle of presentation. We must 
humanize the material by referring it in every possible way 
to the interests of the human soul, or connecting it with the 
human personality which appeals to the emotional interests 
of the child. Scientific discoveries e. g., will be fitly human- 
ized by the biographies and struggles of their discoverers. 

The primitive mind endows all natural forces with per- 
sonal qualities. This is what has been called the animistic 
view of nature. 

To the savage and the child the recognition of a difference 
between the self and the non-self implies a tremendous step 
in mental evolution. But even this recognition does not 
mean that the difference between the outside world phenom- 
ena and the inside world of feelings and thoughts is properly 
grasped. It involves an advanced intellectual insight in the 
causality of things to realize the difference between organic 
and inorganic processes and qualities. The immature mind 
will therefore naively endow the outside world, the non-self 
world, with the same qualities which is possessed by man 
himself. This is what is called the animistic view of nature, 
— a view which transfers upon external phenomena and ob- 
jective facts such causes as may be working subjectively in 
the human mind and feelings. It is neither an easy nor 
a rapid process to emancipate the mind from this tendency, 
and we shall do best by taking the child on his own terms 
in this as in every phase of his development during the years 
of school education, In other words, it commends itself to 



174 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

make proper use of his animistic tendency in the teach- 
ing of nature, as other methods will fail. 

Here we are again reminded of the necessity of grading 
the material and adjusting our methods of presentation in 
accordance with the successive natural instincts of childhood. 

We may, in this work, rely upon the children's native love 
of nature. But, indeed, it is not classified knowledge they 
care for in the beginning. Inspiration must come before 
inclination. 

"The great love of nature, compared with the distaste for 
science existing in the same individuals, is a blow at the 
present methods of killing scientific interests by the text book 
method of instruction. 640 were lovers of some form of 
nature, while only 290 of the same individuals liked any one 
science. This love of nature should be utilized to develop 
the scientific spirit in the pupil."* 

The same thought is expressed by J. O. Quantz, in his 
fascinating study of "Dendro-Psychoses",* in the following 
language : 

"Children are already and naturally in sympathetic 
rapport with nature. Our training of them must contain 
enough letting alone to allow this attitude toward nature to 
continue. This reverence for nature, and feeling of at-home- 
ness with her, is one aspect of the child-like spirit which 
surely need never be outgrown. Scientific description and 
classification of objects is as artificial to child mind as simi- 
lar abstraction and generalization would be to the lowest 
savage." 

Altho experiments and other concrete experiences should 
be introduced in the earliest years in conjunction with geo- 
graphical and other studies to secure proper training of the 
power of observation, and to build up a rational apperceptive 
basis, the symbolic and mythological element must precede 
the strictly rational. Myths, legends, and fairy tales will 
lead to scientific conceptions of the world, properly so-called, 



*E. G. Lancaster, "Psychology and Pedagogy of Adolescence," 
Pedag. Sem. V. I. 
*Amer. Jrl. of Psych., IX, 4. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 175 

and we must not thrust the rationalizing interpretation upon 
the children in a pedantic way, but leave this to their own 
natural adjustment. Well says A. C. Ellis, in his "Philoso- 
phy of Education" :* 

"The larger correlation in teaching the mythopoetic and 
instinctive with the scientific and intellectual views of na- 
ture, is now demanding attention from a new standpoint. 
. . . On every hand the reports of the higher teachers is 
that the little smattering of science has not only failed to 
give children the accurate knowledge desired, but has often 
seared off the budding interest beyond the possibility of re- 
vival in the serious later science work. . . . It is an- 
other illustration of the danger of applying the adult stand- 
ard to children and of building a-priori educational ideals, 
instead of first examining into the mental condition of the 
child to see what he wants and what he can handle. If we 
had known ten years ago what is now known of children, it 
could have been seen beforehand that they have little or no 
interest or apperceptive organ for scientific theories till well 
on into adolescence, that their reason, interest in original 
sources and scientific accuracy, powers of making large in- 
ference, and critical judgment, eagerness to question and 
solve doubts of this kind do not rise till late, while the early 
school years are filled with an animistic appreciation of na- 
ture, with intense love of the usual mythopoetic and folk- 
conceptions. . . . The race unable to develop this myth 
in youth has failed to develop the philosophy and science in 
adult life. The question is then asked in all seriousness if 
the later healthy growth of scientific interest is not starved 
in its embryonic period when the child is started with the 
strong food of pure science and not fed first upon the pap of 
nature myth and folk-lore. Certain it is that studies of chil- 
dren show them, in spite of our efforts, often saturated with 
these notions and ever in sympathy with them. . . ." 

It has been objected to a course of this nature that it will 
lead the children to take a superstitious view of phenomenal 
life. But again we must not impose the standard of the 



*Pedag. Semin., Oct., 1897, 



176 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

rational adult upon the immature child. What appears a 
superstition to us is a mythopoetic conception from the stand- 
point of the undeveloped mind. A mythopoetic view becomes 
a superstition only when it persists in surviving the develop- 
ment to maturity. Superstitions must be lopped off, but it 
is doubtful whether a child whose attitude is rationalizing 
from the start, can be considered a pleasing and wholesome 
creature. There is danger that such a child will never grow 
up to have ideals, or, for that matter, genuine science and 
philosophy. 

We need not be afraid of these early superstitions, and 
should realize how obstinately, in spite of our efforts at 
times, they will take possession of our children. If we oppose 
them injudiciously, we may lose the power of influencing 
the children altogether. 

It is unnecessary to emphasize that, at the proper period, 
this symbolic treatment must be made to lead up to scien- 
tific view-points. We must not allow the children to "get 
stuck" in the myths, altho our most modern experience may 
show that some people will never outgrow the mythological 
stage. 

In introducing the objective and rational element, how- 
ever, it is well not to forget that experiments in school will 
forever be narrow and typical, and consequently limited in 
application. The myths, even at this stage, will essentially 
assist in giving the elementary mind the broad outlook which 
the experimental treatment will fail to give. And even in 
the higher stages, experiment can cover only a small portion 
of the entire ground, and will mainly serve to give a key to 
the appreciation of authoritave teaching. Thus, experience 
will be forever supplemented by belief, thru book study which 
must be taken on faith. Truly, there is an essential differ- 
ence between the simple faith of the primitive mind, and 
scientific faith, in so much as the latter is at all times sub- 
ject to proof, on the basis of the typical experience spoken of. 

The concrete work itself should be varied and typical, as 
said before, and it should call forth the self-activity of the 
pupils, not merely their contemplative powers. In other 
words, they should not be lookers-on in the experimental 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 177 

efforts comprised under this head. Some of the experiments 
may have to be performed by the teacher for the class to 
observe; but the greater part must be done by the pupils 
themselves. These experiments and observations have a dis- 
tinct relation to manual training exercises as has been shown 
in previous chapters. 

The experiences conveyed to the pupils by this concrete 
work may be divided into two groups: 

(1) First-hand experiences. 

These will be gathered not only in the laboratory or school 
room, but in school and kitchen gardens, in the shop, and 
on excursions. School gardens will furnish the basis for 
horticulture, kitchen gardens will be the first step to agricul- 
ture; both will lead up to a practical study of domestic sci- 
ence, which will later include physiology and hygiene. They 
will also offer opportunity for the introduction and use of 
some primitive, typical occupations and tools ; in the working 
of the ground, and in the nursing of plants, they will use 
the hoe, spade, rake, budding knife, pruning shears, etc. 

Out of the narrow precincts of schoolroom and school 
garden, botanizing excursions, trips to study the configura- 
tion of the country, and the animal life characteristic of it, 
will take the children with their teachers into the woods 
and fields, the hills and valleys of the surrounding country, 
and in later stages, even to more distant regions. It has been 
shown that these excursions, besides being instructionally val- 
uable and ministering to healthful exercise, answer a natural 
instinct of the children of this age: the migratory instinct, 
"die Wanderlust" of the Teutonic races, and that a neglect 
of recognition of this tendency must necessarily work mis- 
chief, and breed truancy. Says Mr. L. W. Kline, in his 
study of truancy:* 

"The great majority went to river, pond, brook, to fish, 
skate, swim and play in the water. Next in order comes the 
woods and fields, then to play ball and other games, to see 
parades and be in great gatherings and on the street. Many 



*Pedag. Semin. V. 



178 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

are described as having an immoderate love for sight-seeing, 
excitement and outdoor experiences." 

This sight-seeing might well be made an organic element 
in school instruction, if intelligently managed, for it affords 
a vast amount of special experience. But this belongs only 
indirectly under the head of science teaching. However, the 
city streets, the fields, the forests, and the brookside; mu- 
seums, zoological and botanical gardens, aquaria, factories, 
machine shops, etc., etc., furnish an inexhaustible opportu- 
nity for concrete experience. 

These excursions will be the occasion for gathering nu- 
merous specimens of all kinds, illustrative of the territory 
explored. The world of plants and animals, of rock and 
mountain side, of industry and trade, will thus be carried 
concretely into the schoolroom ; and collections of this kind, 
made by the children themselves and fraught with live asso- 
ciations, will be a hundredfold more valuable and impressive 
than ready made collections, or museum-like specimens, 
brought to them. 

Collections need not be of dead things, or dried and with- 
ering things only. There ought to be living plants in the 
schoolroom; and there might be living pets about at home 
and in school: rabbits, or birds, or fishes; terraria, aviaries, 
aquaria. 

Then there are: 

(2) Second-hand experiences which the skill and care 
of the teacher will make as vivid as possible. Among the 
means to produce these are colored pictures, photographs, and 
representations of all kinds; lantern slides and moving pic- 
tures; and in the largest measure, books and the live word of 
mouth from the inspired teacher. 

This caution is necessary in all science teaching to young 
pupils: do not classify too early, and always respect the 
apperceptive basis of the child. 

The mental and moral injury done by faulty methods is 
the more deplorable as the final aim of true science work 
should be to develop in the pupil, in the first place, a scien- 



*As to Nature vs. Curator, cf. Chap. II, p. 27. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 179 

tific method of research and thinking, and the scientific at- 
titude generally; and secondly, that reverence for life in 
nature, and that ethical attitude which are the foundation 
of true religiosity. 

The ethical, reverential attitude, of which mention has 
been made and which constitutes the most precious gain of 
genuine science work, is well characterized by the following 
lines from two of our master minds and prophets whose 
words need no comment: 

To him who in the love of nature holds 
Communion with her visible forms, she speaks 
A various language. 

(Bryant, Thanatopsis). 

Flower in the crannied wall, 

I pluck you out of the crannies, 

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand, 

Little flower — but if I could understand 

What you are, root and all, and all in all, 

I should know what God and man is. 

(Tennyson). 



CHAPTER XII 

Language Teaching 

GRAMMAR is elementary logic as Bain has it. 
In an able article on the "History of English 
Grammar Teaching" (Educational Review, 
XII, 5) Mr. F. A. Barbour puts the same 
thoughts in the following words: "Grammatical 
analysis . . . not only exemplifies etymological changes 
and rules of syntax, but it is a critical investigation into the 
logical structure of sentences. It cannot be committed to 
memory; it is a direct exercise of all the logical faculties." 
That the English language, almost uninflected as it is, pre- 
sents particular difficulties to one who is not well trained in 
logical reasoning, is also shown conclusively in the same 
article, and is a fact too well known to need further demon- 
stration. "In Latin the form of a word is a direct aid to 
recognizing its function in the sentence. Now the mere fact 
that in English the pupil is obliged to get the meaning of the 
sentence from the order of the words, and from a logical in- 
sight into the content of thought with little or no aid from 
the form of the words — this very fact makes the study of 
English grammar a more abstract and difficult disciplinary 
subject than the grammar of any highly inflected speech." 
(Barbour, loc. cit.) 

The difficulties appear to be highest when definitions of 
the parts of speech are attempted. To pick out the subject 
and predicate, to find modifiers and adjuncts, to distinguish 
between simple, compound and complex sentences, and the 
different kinds of phrases, puzzling as the task often is, may 
perhaps be learned with some intelligent effort by bright, 

180 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 181 

linguistically efficient boys and girls of the highest grammar 
grades, if careful questioning by the teacher points the way 
and practical exercises are employed to give skill. But to 
recognize a noun and to define it in distinction from an ad- 
jective or verb, is a trying task even to the skilled gram- 
marian. In Latin and Greek, inflection is so highly devel- 
oped that it is impossible to mistake a nomen for a verbum, 
even though nomina adjectiva and nomina substantiva may 
not always be readily distinguished. In German, nouns can 
at once be recognized by the fact that they begin with a capi- 
tal letter and by the use of the gender-indicating article with 
them; when used to modify another noun, they are never 
used adjectively, but are invariably joined to the noun they 
qualify to form a compound noun, or are employed in the 
form of an apposition. But in English the same uninflected 
word may be used ad libitum now as a noun, now as an ad- 
jective or verb, and some nouns even as prepositions, conjunc- 
tions and what not. Compare the following sentences: "An 
abstract of title is a document." "Abstract doctrines are 
difficult to understand." "All philosophy that would ab- 
stract mankind from the present is no more than words." 
Here the word abstract occurs three times, each time in a 
different role, the last time even with a different pronuncia- 
tion. In the title "The New York Daily Evening Messen- 
ger," the proper noun "New York" and the common noun 
"evening", are both used as qualifying adjectives. These 
are examples of very ordinary occurrence. But there is a 
large number of less frequent expressions which have the 
effect of veritable grammatical puzzles — the glaring head- 
lines of newspaper articles are full of them. Many words 
have their puzzle character enhanced by the fact that they 
may not only belong to different parts of speech, but that 
they have more than one meaning, or that a different pro- 
nunciation gives them a different significance. (Cf. bow, 
sow, read, etc.) 

It requires little thought to realize that the difficulties 
presented by such cases are indeed insurmountable for young 
children with minds untrained in logical discrimination. And 
yet one of the first things they are expected to learn in gram- 



1 82 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

mar is a series of definitions of the parts of speech. These 
definitions are, as a rule, very unsatisfactory and misleading; 
exact definitions require so high a degree of analytic acute- 
ness and insight that only trained grammatical minds can 
frame and appreciate them. There are, besides, few gram- 
mars for school use that agree on the definition of some of 
the most common words of the language. To illustrate: 
Such words as "this" and "that" (in "this book" and "that 
hat") are called by Swinton's Grammar (1877) and Whit- 
ney's Essentials of English Grammar (1877) "demonstrative 
pronominal adjectives"; by Metcalf's English Grammar 
(1894) "demonstrative adjective pronouns"; by Maxwell's 
Advanced Lessons in English Grammar (1891) simply "ad- 
jectives" (p. 121). The last named Grammar, however, 
names "which" and "what" when used with a noun (as in 
"what dignity," "which numbers") interrogative pronouns. 
In all these grammars "my" and "mine", "your" and 
"yours", etc., are merely given as the possessive cases of "I", 
"you", etc., respectively; while their independent adjectival 
character is recognized by West's Elements of English Gram- 
mar (1893). And thus, examples may be multipled, even 
from the most modern language books for schools. 

Now what degree of power does a child possess to grapple 
with the tasks of grammatical discrimination and analysis? 
In other words, in what measure does the development of 
the logical faculty in the child correspond with the demands 
usually made upon his reasoning power? 

In ordinary school practice the child is expected to be 
able to assimilate any kind of knowledge presented to him. He 
is considered, so to speak, as a small adult; as endowed with 
pretty much the same faculties as the grown-up mind, only 
perhaps, on a smaller scale, or in an untrained condition. 
In most cases the teacher will treat her pupil as if the lat- 
ter were simply ignorant, owing to his lack of years, and 
as if the business of teaching were merely to pour into his 
empty head that amount of knowledge and information which 
is thought necessary, yet wanting. Thus the child of 
school age is regarded as equally able as the adult to learn, 
that is to comprehend, any branch of human knowledge, no 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 183 

matter to what activity of mind it appeals. It is therefore 
thought perfectly feasible, if only the necessary time is grant- 
ed, to teach the so-called elements of so abstract a discipline 
as grammar, even to young students. We may be reminded, 
by the way, that what is meant to be a presentation of the 
elements often takes the form of a highly abstract synopsis 
of the science of grammar — a synopsis which in its totality 
can really be mastered only by very mature minds. 

That the development of the child-mind is, in point of 
fact, a process of maturing; that the young child is by no 
means a logical being, but pre-eminently imitative; that his 
knowledge, and his mode of thinking, are fragmentary; that 
the power of reasoning is of slow growth; that there are 
nascent periods in the child's mental evolution, when new 
forces manifest themselves in the form of new activities and 
interests; that these periods of increased power alternate 
with periods of seeming retrograde, or at least suspended de- 
velopment, but which are in reality times of latent growth, 
when the child's physical and mental forces are gathering 
strength for the next important stride forward ; that the 
power of assimilation is conditioned by the laws of apper- 
ception and interest; and that all these changes and condi- 
tions are intimately related to, and dependent upon, the 
physical growth and development of the child : all these 
facts, which have grown old with the race, now force them- 
selves upon the teachers like a new revelation, born out of the 
new enthusiasm for a more systematic study of the child soul. 
This new recognition of the laws governing the child's pow- 
ers of acquisition and assimilation, will, of course, gradually 
affect the school curriculum, and new standards, and a new 
sequence of topics will result therefrom. 

To a young child, logical order, or logical requirements, 
mean little. His knowledge being fragmentary, he has no 
conception that anything essential is wanting to complete a 
logical whole, or to meet a logical demand. There is nothing 
extraordinary in a fairy-tale to the conception of a child, im- 
possible as a hero's exploits may seem to us. The fabulous 
phoenix, with its resurrection from the flames; or the crea- 
tion of armed men out of dragon's teeth, do not present any 



1 84 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

logical difficulties to the young mind ; even if it doubts their 
truth in matter of fact, this is merely because it has learned 
to appreciate the charms of fanciful invention, and not on 
account of their logical absurdity. The ability to appreciate 
law and order, and to reason out possibilities and impossibil- 
ities, to distinguish between desirable, indifferent, and neces- 
sary things, — presupposes a large stock of experiences stored 
up in the brain, with the association fibres well established 
between them and the relation of cause and effect frequently 
observed and sounded. The absence of these prerequisites 
causes the child to make so many blunders in grammar, and 
to remain unimpressed by what the adult mind conceives to 
be a self-evident logical necessity. The child of pre-pubertal 
age will rarely understand why some verbs are transitive 
and require an object; and in countless other ways teachers 
will meet with an apparent obtuseness which leads to so many 
well-known grammatical mistakes. The learning of rules 
does not help this condition. Some minds will never out- 
grow this stage of non-reasoning. 

Let us not mistake the child's early interest in the causal 
idea for a sufficient evidence of logical ability. The child 
asks "Why?" at a very early period of his life; he is a born 
investigator into organic causes. But whether these causes 
are logical causes, necessary causes, inevitable causes; wheth- 
er the same cause must always have the same effect, and 
whether a cause is potent in all its relations, being modified 
only by other potent causes; all this which characterizes ab- 
stract reasoning, is utterly indifferent to him. He is usually 
satisfied with any cause that you will state to him, even if it 
be logically absurd. Not until his manifold experiences will 
have assumed form and order in his mind, will he gradually 
learn to appreciate what is termed the true causal nexus and 
become capable of making logical inferences, at least in mat- 
ters of abstract thought. 

Young children are not as apt, as many may suppose, to 
profit by their errors. In his instructive "Study of Puzzles," 
in the "American Journal of Psychology" (July, 1897) 
Ernest H. Lindley has convincingly shown that in the at- 
tempt to solve problems, children will have to repeat their 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 185 

errors many times before their significance is understood. 
Their mode of procedure is essentially dependent upon habit 
and imitation; "recency and vividness" of concrete experi- 
ences are responsible for most of their notions and acts. If 
reason is a perception of relations, then young children are 
little above the "sense trial and error" order of procedure; 
and while they may perhaps early learn to perceive simple 
relations and make simple adaptations thereby, fatigue, tem- 
porary loss of interest, etc., may produce a relapse into the 
animal method of absolute non-reasoning (loc. cit. p. 479). 
"Tests of a number of children varying in age from 3 to 12, 
show surprisingly little logic" (p. 476). 

Experiments on mathematical reasoning have been reported 
on by John A. Hancock, in the "Educational Review" of 
October, 1896. 

If such lack of insight into simple mathematical relations 
can be observed — and no teacher of arithmetic will fail to 
observe specimens of it — it is not to be wondered at that 
the more difficult problems of grammar, involving not only 
some subtle logic, but also an appreciation of etymological 
development and syntactical peculiarities — will encounter 
still greater "obtuseness" on the part of a large percentage 
of pupils. 

The investigations just alluded to, and which are corrob- 
orated by many other tests, indicate that there are critical 
periods in the development of the child's mind — periods of 
rapid growth, preceded or followed by periods of apparent 
dullness. Whether physical growth and mental growth 
progress in inverse ratio or not, it is as yet an open problem ; 
the facts at our disposal are somewhat contradictory with re- 
gard to this point. But all tests point to the eighth, tenth, 
and twelfth years as times of change. These stages corre- 
spond broadly to periods of marked significance in the devel- 
ment of the brain. According to H. H. Donaldson ("The 
Growth of the Brain"), the brain attains almost its full 
weight at the eighth year of a child's life and, with some 
fluctuations, the maximum weight is reached between the 
thirteenth and fifteenth. "The young child is a reflex and 
automatic organism. . . . The child even so old as 



1 86 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

eight years is rather like an animal in method of adaptation 
than like the human adult" (Lindley, loc. cit. p. 480). His 
mental characteristic is imitativeness. "This does not de- 
grade the mental status of children, but rather dignifies imi- 
tation, or suggestibility, or whatever this instinct may be 
called as that psychic element which has largely shaped hu- 
man destiny whenever the higher intellectual faculties were 
pushed in the background." (Cf. Prof. Edw. A. Ross, "The 
Mob Mind," Popular Science Monthly, July, 1897.) How- 
ever, from the eighth year, a beginning of true reasoning, 
that is the perception of simple relations, may be observed. 

In a study of children's superstitions (Clara Vostrovska, 
Studies in Education, I. 4), the children's natural inclination 
towards absurd beliefs and their inability to do abstract rea- 
soning is strongly emphasized. But while it is shown that 
"few children know how to generalize", and that "each case 
is a separate case to them", it is also demonstrated that the 
"change from belief to unbelief" occurs "about the tenth 
year." With regard to matters of discipline, rules of conduct 
and punishments of transgressions, we find that "the great 
majority of young children do not discriminate kinds and de- 
grees of offences." (Studies in Education, I, 9, p. 348). 
Here the same absence of power of logical discrimination and 
of the ability to generalize. Yet in a study of "Class Pun- 
ishment" (by Caroline Frear, loc. cit.) we read: "It is in- 
teresting to notice that the sentiment that the class ought to 
co-operate with the teacher in the detection of guilt increases 
with age, from 39 per cent, before 10 years of age, to 50 per 
cent, after ten years." Thus the tenth year is again established 
as an important turning point in the child's mental develop- 
ment. For without a keener appreciation of the need of con- 
scious adjustment, of the relation of cause and effect, of 
mutual obligation, dim as it yet may be, this new social senti- 
ment could not spring up. It marks the dawn of true rea- 
soning. Other studies point the same way, and Earl Barnes 
(loc. cit. p. 356) recognizes the age of from ten to thirteen 
as a period of great mental activity, tending to develop the 
power to think in logical sequences, crude as these attempts 
may yet be. During this, the pre-pubertal period, we shall 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 187 

observe in the child glimpses of that critical tendency which at 
the age of pubescence and adolescence proper will induce 
the young man and woman to doubt and revise most of their 
notions and beliefs hitherto accepted upon the authority of 
teacher and parent, and to establish new association tracts 
in accordance with their bold attempt at independent think- 
ing. Now, logical thought, radical reasoning, often sur- 
prisingly unconventional, often producing even a revolution- 
ary attitude towards established modes of thought, will as- 
sert their influence powerfully. 

If we allow ourselves to be guided by the results of these 
investigations, in laying out a course of language, or specific- 
ally grammar, instruction, we must first take care to remove 
from the curriculum of the lower and intermediate grades all 
such exercises which require strictly logical processes of 
thought. We may even doubt the wisdom of too early an 
introduction of any kind of formal language training before 
the eighth year. Might it not be safer to devote all the time 
in the first two grades of school work to objective and sense 
training, to the building up of clear concepts thru nature 
and manual work, including geometrical exercises of a con- 
crete character ; and to purely oral exercises and drill in oral 
expression, — postponing the beginning of reading, writing, 
and number work proper until the pupil enters the third 
grade? The advisability of such a course ought to be seri- 
ously discussed as with the present mode of procedure so 
much precious time and energy seem to be wasted which 
could be put to better advantage, and as the children after 
having passed the first critical turning point of their develop- 
ment would perhaps be much better able to cope with the 
perplexing tasks of formal instruction. But be that as it 
may, all are agreed that with regard to language training no 
successful attempt can be made in these early years to teach 
rules of grammar. Main stress will have to be laid upon 
opportunities for unconscious absorption and imitation of 
good language, from the speech of parents and teachers, by 
reading to the children, by having them commit to memory 
carefully chosen selections of poetry and prose. The 
dramatic instinct of the child which is so prominent in the 



1 88 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

early years, will make him delight in impersonating different 
characters, professions and occupations, thus learning to mas- 
ter a number of terms and expressions peculiar to them. Ani- 
mal and folk-lore should be turned to account, fables will 
be helpful, and even flowers and minerals can be inspired to 
speak to the child their various languages. A number of 
simple rules and directions — in correcting the child's speech 
— such as have no particular logical reason but are essentially 
idiomatic, can be emphasized now, and will be obediently 
respected by the youthful learner. For this is the age when 
he has implicit faith in authority, and will believe things to 
be right or wrong just as he is told, without question. Con- 
stant practice, varied in form, to command the interest of the 
pupil, will lay the safe foundations for future language 
study ; but there must be a thought content to every word he 
is made to use. 

Every observer of children knows that their first attempt 
to venture out on the field of independent word-formation 
and inflection is characterized by the method of analogy. 
This, while assumed to be a logical process, and undoubtedly 
containing a germ of true reasoning, is clearly a mode of 
imitative activity. The child will conjugate "I bring, I 
brang", as he does "I sing, I sang," without doubting his per- 
fect right to do so. This tendency to analogize, as being the 
first dawn of reason, will be taken advantage of by the skill- 
ful teacher to fix the regular forms in the child's mind, not 
dwelling, of course, on grammatical terms. The danger aris- 
ing from the same tendency concerning the so-called irregu- 
lar forms will be largely obviated by simply appealing to the 
authority of good usage, and making the seemingly anoma- 
lous forms, types to be followed in the formation of new 
analogical sets. But this can be done to advantage only dur- 
ing these early years, before the child's first awkward at- 
tempts to reason may confuse his idiomatic speech. This is 
another argument in favor of the belief that formal studies 
be best postponed until after the eighth year, so as to gain 
time for a firm grounding in the idiomatic use of the lan- 
guage. As the memory is very active and tenacious at this 
age, these teachings will be a gain forever. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 189 

With many children, if not with all, the study of another 
living language in addition to the vernacular will prove 
helpful. Such study is by no means an overtaxation, and 
will in no wise injure the mother tongue, if competently 
taught. On the contrary, these early years are the very ones 
when languages are acquired with remarkable facility, and 
the practice of many foreign families of the nobility where 
children are expected to converse in two languages at an 
early age, is proof that there is no difficulty. And it will be 
noticed that the change from one language to another, while 
it affords great pleasure to the children, answering to their 
play instinct in a particular form, will also stimulate their 
appreciation of idiomatic differences; it will decidedly 
strengthen their "feeling" for the idiomatic characteristics 
of their own language. The author has been frequently 
struck by the fitness of expressions chosen by young children 
from English speaking homes, in the rendering of German 
phrases in idiomatic English. They hit the right translation 
intuitively. Class instruction will here prove beneficial inas- 
much as each child will thus be benefited by the joint lin- 
guistic experiences and instincts of all the rest. 

This remarkable aptness of young children to catch the 
spirit of the language need not surprise us. It was in the 
childhood of the race and of nations when language and lan- 
guages were created and developed. These creations and de- 
velopments were due to certain physiological laws inherent 
in human nature, — laws which are now being more and 
more studied and understood, but of which the language- 
makers themselves were of course entirely unconscious. Lan- 
guage is a growth, as it were, and we say that humankind 
created language by following the language-making instinct. 
There are general laws governing all languages; and there 
are peculiarities found in individual idioms, also due to 
deeper causes. Thus each language has a "genius" of its 
own — each pictures a different attitude towards environment, 
a different reaction to external conditions ; and this difference 
of "genius" is commensurate to the degree of variation which 
the tribe, or people, whose product it is, represents among the 
multitudinous species of the human race. In other words, 



190 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

each people's language reflects that people's racial character- 
istics, its individual life-attitude, resulting from that "strug- 
gle for existence", that adaptation to environment, which 
fixed its status as a separate type. But this "language-mak- 
ing instinct" was especially active and effective in the early 
days, before the type was fixed, when everything in the type 
character which was to be, was formative, potential, flexible. 

This same condition is observed in the child of the age we 
speak of, which is pre-eminently a formative age; it even con- 
tinues through the pre-pubertal years. The language making 
instinct of young children is very marked, and manifests 
itself at one period in the production of distinct child-lan- 
guages, totally different from the vernacular, and sometimes 
framed by children spontaneously in addition to the learning 
of the mother tongue; and at a later epoch, by the child's 
lively interest in the invention and use of multifarious "se- 
cret languages". Under specially favorable circumstances, 
the first mentioned child-language "would become the mother 
tongue of a new community and of the nation that would 
spring from it" ( Horatio Hale, quoted in "Children's Secret 
Languages" by Oscar Chrisman, The Child Study Monthly, 
Sept., 1896). This wonderful faculty of child-nature as 
Chrisman calls it (loc. cit.) ought to be led into the learning 
of useful foreign languages so that the specific energy at 
our disposal may not go to waste. And as the young mind is 
still relatively free from the conventionalisms which in later 
years beset and obscure the clear fountain of the national 
genius, and represents more purely the original instincts that 
differentiated the type; and as the child of this age repeats 
the formative "culture epoch" of his tribe, it is not surprising 
that he is ready to "feel the pulse of his mother tongue;" 
to develop that "feeling for the peculiarities of his language 
which enables him to grasp intuitively the intricacies of its 
idiomatic phraseology." 

With the acquisition of the art of reading and writing: a 
new element comes to the assistance of language study. Vis- 
ual and motor impressions, from the printed page and from 
the attempt to reproduce it in writing, are of inestimable 
value for the awakening of language concepts. As, in the 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 191 

previous period, careful enunciation and scrupulously correct 
language on the part of parent and teacher were powerful 
agencies for establishing in the child's mind a feeling for 
corrections of expression: now with the throwing open to 
the youthful learner the golden gates of the vast and rich 
domain of literature, noble examples of what there is best in 
his language must surround and inspire him from the begin- 
ning. It is not necessary here to dwell at length on the prin- 
ciples which must guide the teacher in the selection of read- 
ing matter for school use; suffice it to say that only such 
matter is permissible which the child can learn to admire and 
imitate. The language of his immediate surroundings is 
now supplemented by that used, exalted and made immortal 
by the great minds of his race. Again his native imitative- 
ness will be the efficient factor in his appropriating these great 
models for the sake of his own self-expression. His power 
of discrimination between adequate and inadequate expres- 
sion will be strengthened, and his natural tendency towards 
the beautiful, the rhythmical, the melodious, will receive a 
new stimulus. Children need much more poetry than prose; 
and much more fanciful, rhetorical, epic, rhapsodical prose 
than common-place narratives and descriptions. 

At the dawn of civilization and literature, the poet was 
rhetor, rhapsodist, historian, naturalist, philosopher, teacher; 
mastery of the language appeared first in the form of poesy. 
And youthful minds to this day delight the most in rhythmic 
style: in the measured step of the epos and the sublimely 
simple language of the classic tale and folklore, the wild 
movement of the dithyramb, the sweet numbers of lyric 
song; and this poetic disposition, wedded to their love of 
action, gives the child and the youth that intense fondness for 
dramatic expression so often observed. 

It suggests itself, then, that young children should read 
real literature — pieces composed by the masters of literary 
expression; and that poetical and dramatic compositions 
should have the preference. May be that in imitation of 
these models the child's language will at first be a little florid 
and high-flown; no matter — what is exuberant and rank in 
it, will soon enough be trimmed down by the more prosaic 



192 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

influences of later years. 

And let us not undervalue the intense enjoyment the child 
takes in humorous things, nor forget that the sense of humor 
is not merely the merry monarch of idle pastime, but truly a 
promotor of intellectual development. To appreciate a joke 
means to see a relation between ordinarily unrelated things. 
Children's enjoyment of humor, therefore, has not only an 
emotional value, giving their minds an optimistic trend ; it 
also illustrates their "proneness to explore all the possibili- 
ties of human life" (G. Stanley Hall and A. Allin, "The 
Psychology of Tickling, Laughing and the Comic", Amer. 
Journal of Psych., Oct., 1897) and is a legitimate outcome 
of the play-instinct. It represents a distinct form of intel- 
lectual play, as valuable for the evolution of logical thinking 
as the puzzle interest of which more will be said hereafter. 
Hence there should be a goodly admixture of humorous read- 
ing matter, from the funny nonsense of Mother Goose rhymes 
and 'Alice in Wonderland" to the scholarly pleasantries of 
the 'Autocrat of the Breakfast Table", and were it only for 
the purpose of elevating the children's taste in this direction, 
and to guard them from falling into the vulgar modes of 
thought towards which reckless witticism often leads. 

The cardinal thing for language development is the more 
or less conscious absorption of the model of expression set 
before the children ; and this absorption will again be greatly 
helped by committing to memory a number of well-chosen 
selections. There are, however, other devices. 

In the first place let us remember that correct speech is 
greatly benefited by perceiving and recalling to the mind the 
correct form of the word. What enunciation is for oral ex- 
pression, spelling is for the written form of language. There 
is a distinct relation between spelling and grammar, and 
error and muddle in one will injure the other. 

The vividness of the mental images of word-forms depends 
largely upon visual and motor impressions and memories. 
Relatively few people (often those that have a peculiar ear 
for music) are ear-minded and the ear-minded ones among 
the pupils of an elementary school receive enough of the at- 
tention due to their peculiarity if teachers are careful about 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 193 

enunciation. But even they will have their word-images 
made more distinct by accompanying motor memories. These 
facts show the absurdity of the tiresome, monotonous, one- 
sided sing-song of oral spelling. How unnecessary this is, 
is also made clear by the circumstance that few teachers will 
follow this insipid practice when they teach a foreign 
language. Who has ever heard of a French, German, Latin 
or Greek spelling match? Spelling proper is of use mainly 
for writing, and as we learn to swim by going into the 
water, we learn to spell by writing words. Constant prac- 
tice in writing, first by copying, and then by composing. 

Copying is a very valuable exercise indeed. It goes with- 
out saying that there must be discretion in the selection of 
copies. Not everything needs to be copied ; but many of the 
selections which have been chosen for memorizing; proverbs 
("epigramatic condensations of applicable wisdom which have 
long served as a sort of moral code of direction to mankind" 
— Anomy., Frazer's Mag. — and which are admirable examples 
of concise and pregnant expression) ; fables and the like may 
well be copied. This copying, alternating with dictation 
exercises covering the same ground, will intensify the mental 
images of the selections and help memorizing and preserv- 
ing them. If more of intelligent copying and dictation were 
practiced, teachers would experience less difficulty in hav- 
ing the pupils copy simple directions from the blackboard, or 
make notes of very ordinary explanations. How can a child 
whose mental images of the words and forms of his language 
are indistinct, confused, and fragmentary, be expected to 
use this language with an adequate degree of correctness? 

Spelling and grammar go hand in hand in many grammati- 
cal forms. The tendency of the child to build words and 
forms by analogy will here again be helpful, and the lists of 
words and inflections based upon common type-forms can be 
made to the delight of the children. It is true that many forms 
appear arbitrary and will seem to defy attempts at analogical 
classification. But, if introduced as new types, as suggested 
before, children of this age will, as a rule, accept them un- 
questioningly. Reference is here made not only to spelling 
lists as such, but to lists which have a grammatical signifi- 



194 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

cance. Thus, singulars and plurals may be contrasted, in 
lists somewhat like these: 



First Type: 


father 


fathers 




table 


tables 


Second Type: 


dish 


dishes 




fox 


foxes 


Third Type: 


man 


men 




woman 


women, etc, 



In a similar manner, lists of comparatives and superlatives, 
of possessive cases, etc., may be prepared. Verb forms can be 
tabulated thus: 



First Type : 


I praise, 


I praised, 


I am praised. 




I love, 


I loved, 


I am loved. 




I hate, 


I hated, 


I am hated, etc. 


Second Type 


: I regret, 


I regretted, 


I am regretted. 




I shun, 


I shunned, 


I am shunned, etc 


Third Type: 


I bend, 


I bent, 


I am bent. 




I send, 


I sent, 


I am sent, etc. 



and so on. 

Such lists ought to be copied in notebooks kept especially 
for this purpose, and added to as occasion suggests. It need 
hardly be said that only such words must be given a place on 
these "growing" lists whose meaning and use is satisfactorily 
understood ; in other words such that form the stock vocab- 
ulary of the children, and have been frequently read and 
used by them. 

Some general notions of name-words (nouns), words de- 
noting quality (adjectives), and words denoting action 
(verbs) will have sprung up in the minds of the children by 
this time, under the careful guidance of the teacher. Exer- 
cises in contrasting words like "pro-duce" (verb) and 
"prod-uce" (noun) in sentences and then tabulating them 
will throw the difference of their respective functions into 
bold relief. But care must be taken not to make these notions 
formal or inelastic; no definition or general rule should be 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 195 

demanded, the less as by such crude definitions as were al- 
luded to before, the children would only learn to recognize 
some nouns, verbs and adjectives, but by no means all. The 
greater number of verbs, e. g., they have in daily use would 
thus escape recognition. True, there will perhaps always be 
a small percentage of precocious or otherwise intellectually 
exceptional children in a class; if these do see relations and 
can be helped to derive a general principle from their observa- 
tions and concrete exercises, well enough for them ; they must 
not be repressed. But their standard cannot be the class 
standard. The aim at this stage can only be to establish 
good habits of expression, to take advantage of the child's nat- 
ural tendency to analogize, and to give their incipient ability 
to discern simple relations, sufficient stimulus. 

As the greatest effort will be made in the direction of the 
greatest interest, we should not overlook the intense delight 
which children take in riddles and puzzles of all kinds. 
What is presented to them in puzzle form is sure to arouse 
at once their alert attention. Lindley's study of puzzles (loc. 
cit.) shows that "the riddle interest proper, beginning at 4, 
culminates at 8, 9 and 10. Language puzzles exclusive of 
riddles are most in favor from 12 to 15." Let us mark the 
culmination periods which coincide with the critical periods 
previously pointed out. The puzzle interest should certainly 
be utilized in language teaching. 

It is evident that many riddles which deal with letters 
and syllables, can be made helpful in the teaching of spell- 
ing. Many riddles, however, describe "the object in question 
in a paradoxical or ambiguous way" (Lindley). This sug- 
gests the use of the riddle as a device to detect the character 
of subject, object and predicate. Again care must be taken 
to avoid formal drill which would only kill the interest just 
kindled and serve no purpose. Below the tenth year, when 
children are most interested in what Lindley calls the rid- 
dle proper, namely a simple question (as: Lives without 
a body, hears without ears, speaks without mouth, to which 
air alone gives birth; what is it? — Echo), this exercise may 
simply serve to loosen the children's intellectual joints, as it 
were, and prepare them for the more trying tasks of the next 



196 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

period. 

The tenth year is again the turning point. From now on 
thru the pre-pubertal period (a period of uncertain length, 
differing in the two sexes and in individuals) the interest in 
the other classes of language puzzles is marked. These are 
really nothing else than more elaborate riddles. Lindley 
enumerates the rebus, the conundrum, the enigma, the cha- 
rade (also in its dramatic form) ; word squares, diamonds, 
etc.; the acrostic; logogram, metagram, decapitations, cur- 
tailments, retailments, hidden words, and the like. "Alto- 
gether there are more than 30 species of language and word 
puzzles. It is obvious that many of these not only challenge 
ingenuity and involve the logical processes, but also have 
points as information tests." It would be a welcome under- 
taking if someone would collect puzzles, and grade and ar- 
range them in their bearings upon different branches of in- 
struction; and with regard to language training as such, as 
orthographical, word building, subject, object and predicate 
puzzles, etc. The skillful teacher will soon find a way to 
make good use of them. 

For a clearer understanding of the educational value of 
puzzles Lindley's article should be consulted. The follow- 
ing quotations must suffice to illustrate the bearing of this 
intellectual play upon mental development of children ap- 
proaching the most critical period of their life. "It is fair 
to presume a priori that the systems of cortical association 
fibres now begin to develop more rapidly. . . . Experi- 
mental data concerning growth of reasoning power . . . 
furnish corroboration for the above neurological assumption. 

. . . May not this pre-pubertal intellectual play ac- 
tivity bear direct propaedeutic relations to adolescence ? The 
resulting flexibility of mind, due to the breaking up of nar- 
row modes of thought, and the accompanying increment of 
gain in strength and poise of intellect and will, may help 
somewhat to mitigate the dangers of the 'new birth'." 

By working enthusiastically over puzzles the child's abil- 
ity to grasp relations quickly, to reason logically, is greatly 
strengthened, and he becomes ready for formal instruction. 
We are reminded by Lindley that twelve is the age when 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 197 

Rousseau would have Emile, after years of freedom from 
restraint, placed under formal tuition. 

Lindley's study also demonstrates that even in this point 
the development of the child is parallel to that of the race. 
Riddles have played an important role in the childhood of 
mankind, at a time preceding intellectual maturity. "The 
making of riddles," says Taylor (Primitive Culture, I) 
"requires a fair power of ideal comparison, and knowledge 
must have made considerable advance before the process could 
become so familiar as to fall from earnest into sport." Let 
us be reminded of the riddle of the sphinx; of the part 
riddles play in Fairy Tales; and that the rebus is perhaps 
only a degenerated form of picture writing and hieroglyphics. 

The pupils will now be ready to discern the grammatical 
relations of words in a sentence. The sentence will become 
the starting point of formal grammatical instruction. Wheth- 
er it is best, as Franz Kern suggests, to begin with the finite 
verb, as containing the essential elements of the sentence, 
the sentence with its subject, predicate, object and other mod- 
ifiers, will form a firm basis of elementary analysis. This 
analysis must remain general at this stage, and omit con- 
fusing details. Observations will illustrate to the child the 
simple relations of these parts of the sentence, and of sub- 
stantive, adjectival, adverbial, and verbal elements to one 
another, without the need of formal definitions. 

It is open to discussion whether diagramming the sentence 
will contribute much to the clearness of its conception. If 
there were a way — interesting to the children as well as 
illustrating the organic facts of the sentence — the weight of 
the argument would be in favor of the diagrammatic meth- 
od. But the ordinary diagram forms are utterly unsatis- 
factory ; they ignore the evolution of the thought as expressed 
in the sentence ; they regard the latter from the standpoint of 
formal grammar — that is, as "a thing dead and static, a man- 
ufacture instead of a growth" (Gertrude Buck, "The Sen- 
tence Diagram", Educ. Rev., Mar., 1897). Miss Buck re- 
minds us of the evolution of the sentence, from the inter- 
jectional expression of a homogeneous feeling (the single 
word of the child is more or less interjectional in character, 



i 9 8 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

at any rate, stands epigrammatically for the expression of the 
entire thought) to a differentiated, tho stenographic assertion 
of an empirical judgment that has crystallized into a logical 
concept; and she suggests a tree-shaped diagram. It is 
well to consult the writings of Franz Kern on the subject 
of sentence analysis ("Die deutsche Satzlehre," Berlin, 1883; 
"Zur Methodik des deutschen Unterrichts," 1883; "Zustand 
und Gegenstand", 1886) ; he was the first to demonstrate 
the untenability of the copula-idea. However, it may be 
best to postpone diagramming which presupposes a good deal 
of exact discrimination, till the time of secondary instruc- 
tion; for the child's standard of exactness is considerably 
lower than the adult's and can be prematurely advanced only 
at an expense of time and energy better employed in other 
directions. 

The so-called compound sentence will hardly need special 
treatment at this stage ; a recognition of the co-ordinated rela- 
tionship of parts found there will suffice. The complex 
sentence can be treated as what it really is, viz., an expanded 
simple sentence, the expansion being produced by substitut- 
ing "dependent" sentences (clauses) for single words or 
phrases. Of course, it is not strictly true that such clauses 
were consciously substituted by the writer or speaker; the 
process is rather this, that a clause is used when a single 
word or phrase would be inadequate. 

It may be added that the common practice to dissect selec- 
tions from literature by so-called analysis, deserves to be de- 
nounced as truly barbaric; selections should be used as illus- 
trations only. The children's own compositions will furnish 
material for analytic treatment, the main function of which 
is to demonstrate the need of well connected and precise 
expression. 

To recapitulate: at this stage of logical development the 
child may be expected to discriminate in a general way, be- 
tween subject, predicate, object and modifiers; and also to 
recognize (not define) nouns, prom uns, verbs adjectives, 
adverbs, and perhaps prepositions and conjunctions. If there 
should be any hesitation in anyone's mind as to the possibility 
of recognizing parts of speech without defining them, let him 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 199 

be reminded that he knows and recognizes a great many 
things without being conscious of their definitions, or ever 
having defined them; and he would often be very slow in 
recognizing an object from its definition. In thinking of 
a table, e. g., is Webster's definition of this useful piece of 
furniture present to his mind, or does he know it at all? 
Or would the following definition taken from the Standard 
Dictionary: "A sliding receptacle, as in a cabinet, bureau, 
table, chest, bench, or the like, for containing clothing, pa- 
pers, valuables, etc." — help him materially to recognize a 
common drawer? Why should it be otherwise in grammar? 
Definitions are the climax of cognition — the final label which 
a logical mind affixes to a concept; but the principal condi- 
tion of correct conception is correct perception, whether de- 
fining words are used as an additional description or not. 

If further analysis should be deemed desirable, the con- 
struction of sentences may be represented in the following 
manner :* 

Signify principal statements by capital letters, in their nat- 
ural series, e. g. 

"An inventor is rarely a scholar" = A. 
"It was a consoling dream; but it was only a dream" = 
A; B. 

Or in case one statement is parenthetically enclosed in an- 
other : 

"Rarely (for invention presupposes technical skill) is an 
inventor a scholar" = A (B) A. 

Sentences like the following should be allowed to pass as 
simple sentences (with more than one subject, predicate, or 
object) : 

"My sister and her friend met me at the gate; we took a 
walk and enjoyed ourselves" = A; B. 

Only when there can be no mistake about several sentences 
having been compounded or contracted into one, may the 
sentence figure assume this form: 



*This method, in its essential features, tho it appears here 
in a somewhat modified form, has been suggested by J. Wollin- 
ger, "Lehrbuch des gesammten Sprachunterrichts." 



200 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

"The little girl had brown eyes and black hair, and was 
clever and courageous" = A-f B. 

In complex sentences, the principal statement is treated as 
the original simple sentence; the dependent clauses are de- 
noted thus: 

(i) Subject clauses = s; abbreviated, = sb: 

"Whoever (or He who) finds the book should bring 

it to me" = s, A. 
"To die for one's country is an honor" = sb, A; also 
in this form: "It is an honor to die for one's coun- 
try" = A, sb. 

(2) Object clauses = o, or ob: 

"He says that he never saw anything like it" = A, o. 
"The sick desire to be cured" (that they be cured) 
= A, ob. 

(3) Predicate clauses = p: 

"He is not what he seems" = A, p. 

(4) Attributive clauses = a: 

"A friend who remains true in affliction is a great 
blessing" = A, a, A. 

( 5 ) Adverbial clauses = x : 

"When spring awakens the flowers, my heart, too, 
feels a new power rising into existence" = x, A. 

If there are any clauses dependent upon clauses, we may 
consider these as clauses of the second degree, and designate 
them respectively s 2 , o 2 , p 2 , a 2 , x 2 . In the same way we may 
have, in still more complicated constructions, clauses of the 
third and even of the fourth degree. The following quota- 
tion from Webster, analyzed by this method, will illustrate 
the process: 

"(These few and scattered historical notices of important 
inventions have been introduced only for the purpose of sug- 
gesting) = A, xb (that there is much) =o 2 (which is both 
curious and instructive in the history of mechanics:) = a 3 
(and) = + (that many things) = o 2 (which to us, in our 
state of knowledge, seem so obvious) = a 3 (that we would 
think) = x 4 (they would at once force themselves on men's 
adoption )=o i (have, nevertheless, been accomplished slowly, 
and by painful efforts.)" = o*. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 201 

, xb, o,a: + o,a,x,o,o. 

It will be readily seen that this method of analysis is very 
different from the ordinary mechanical and barbaric way; it 
does not dissect, but goes right to the core of sentence compo- 
sition and touches upon style as well. It has enough of the 
puzzle quality to arouse the intense interest of the pupils who 
will delight in exercises of transposition, re-arrangement, and 
change of expressions, such as the following: 

"That it is wise to curb our passions nobody will deny" 
= o, sb 2 , A. Make it A, o, sb 2 ; or A, o. 

"Iron is found in almost every country. Nowhere it occurs 
pure. Most of our tools are made of iron." How can these 
three statements be combined in one sentence ? Or, make it : 
A, a + a, A. 

This kind of analysis may even with profit be extended to 
the literature read, and will serve to make the pupils more 
appreciative of the peculiar style and manner of an author; 
but it is well to have it understood by them from the outset, 
not only that some constructions permit of different interpre- 
tations, but also that every sentence cannot be reduced to a 
formula; that genius defies and transcends mechanism and 
rule. This work will call forth much ingenuity, if the teach- 
er is wise enough not to present it in the form of tasks, but 
as literary puzzles and pastime. 

Devices like the ones in the foregoing will greatly facili- 
tate the criticisms of the children's own language, especially 
in compositions, by the instructor. For constant practice in 
self-expression following the study of great models, will after 
all be the cardinal method of developing the language of the 
child. It must never be forgotten that it cannot be the aim 
of elementary instruction to appeal to the higher logical fac- 
ulties of the mind, or to teach grammar as such; training of 
this kind belongs properly to the next higher stage, that of 
secondary or adolescent education, when the juvenile mind 
becomes conscious of itself. In the pre-adolescent period all 
exercise should be directed to the development of the power of 
self-expression, and great caution must be employed lest self- 
consciousness be awakened prematurely, as that would destroy 
the child's freedom and naturalness before he has acquired 



202 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

the power to reason out his way for himself and to become in- 
dependent. The well known anecdote of the centipede will 
furnish a valuable lesson in this connection. 

The term "self-expression", in speaking of the children's 
compositions, has been used with a purpose. Nothing affords 
a sadder spectacle than what is ordinarily understood by 
essay-writing in schools — a painful struggling with foreign, 
undigested matter, mere word-play, illuminated now and 
then by borrowed fireworks of other people's brilliancy. It is 
the very training school of cant. Children should be encour- 
aged to write only of what they have themselves experienced, 
either in the world of reality or emotionally. They should 
be led to express themselves — their own knowledge, their 
own thoughts, their own feelings, be they ever so crude and 
simple; and not second hand thoughts and emotions to make 
a false show. When once the child knows that nothing but 
his own self is wanted and appreciated, his language will 
flow without restraint, and he will grope his way, as it were, 
thru the intricacies of grammar. Grammar is, to put it in 
another form, the law that has, unconsciously to themselves, 
governed the thought of human beings when it sought ex- 
pression; language is thought materialized. Make, there- 
fore, the child perceive accurately, think clearly, and feel 
distinctly, and his expression will become accurate, clear and 
distinct, grammar will take care of itself as it did in the great 
minds of the race from whose immortal creations we have 
abstracted those rules of expression which in them were liv- 
ing forces. The language of children is an unmistakable in- 
dex of their training and education in general, or else of their 
native genius, but rarely of the amount of grammar they 
have absorbed. 

Special exercises need not be neglected, but they should be 
concrete rather than formal. If you wish to practice plurals 
you may have the pupils write statements which are true 
of all flowers after they have studied one; or all metals af- 
ter they have worked with one or the other. And if you think 
practice in comparing adjectives is desirable, let them com- 
pare real things with which they are familiar, as in a nature 
lesson. But avoid it as much as possible — and that can be 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 203 

done even when tables are prepared as described before — to 
make the exercise smack of formal grammar. It is POWER 
rather than reflection for which we must strive. List-mak- 
ing will, as a rule, follow, not precede, these composition 
exercises. 

Minds of an elementary, or of a non-philological stamp, 
can perhaps never go beyond the limit of what has been so far 
suggested. Let us not deceive ourselves about the logical 
capacities of perhaps a majority, at least in this particular line 
of mental activity. Abstract reasoning is not a quality of 
the multitude; few will assimilate more than the rudiments 
of science, few will ever assume a scientific attitude. It would 
be unjust, however, to brand all unscientific or non-philo- 
logical minds with the epithet "inferior". Granted there are 
only too many who will forever remain on a lower plane of 
intellectuality; but a large number whose scientific, or spe- 
cificially philological accomplishments can be but elementary, 
will display superior ability in other lines of human activity. 
Elsewhere ("The Common School and the New Education," 
C. W. Bardeen, Syracuse, 1897, P- 7)> the writer has sug- 
gested a differentiation of school instruction in the pre- 
pubertal years; and such differentiation may be carried on 
and further specialized in adolescent (secondary) education 
by establishing a series of co-ordinated High School courses 
which would correspond to the different view-points of indi- 
vidual groups of adolescent students. In a crude way, sec- 
ondary differentiation has already been instituted, tho with 
this principal defect that only those pupils who have pre- 
viously shown themselves philologically and mathematically 
talented, find admission while all the rest are excluded, may 
their otherwise superior gifts make them ever so capable of 
higher training if only the proper course were provided for 
them. 

Grammar, then, in its function as elementary logic, is not a 
discipline suited for all; but there will always be a certain 
percentage of pupils in each class that can be taxed higher 
in exercises employing the logical faculties. To them the 
opportunity for such practice must not be denied, and while 
we must not allow ourselves to be worried or disgusted by 



2o 4 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

the hazy notions of the non-abstractive children we may de- 
mand close attention and exact work from those that are 
capable of it. Adjustment to different needs or individuali- 
zation in class work, must be the watchword. 

As indicated in the beginning, the study of foreign 
languages will prove to be of great assistance in language 
work. The harder tasks may always be assigned to the so- 
called brighter pupils (only so-called, as this work which 
has hitherto been the main criterion of ability forms their 
specialty) who will be the leaders in analysis, in discover- 
ing relations and laws; the others being the followers, the 
imitators, taking the laws for granted and meekly obeying 
them as well as they can. But even this latter category will 
perhaps gain a clearer insight into grammatical facts from 
studying the completer forms and more intelligible construc- 
tions of German and Latin. 

The child may fitly be allowed to profit by the experience 
of the race here as in other respects. It has been shown that 
in the development of the language of the child, three stages 
may be distinguished: his first language is the primitive 
language of the species; the second represents the race 
language; the third the vernacular (Winfield S. Hall, "The 
First 500 Days of a Child's Life", Child-Study Monthly, 
March, 1897). Highly inflected languages are the fore- 
runners of the simpler which more and more discard the 
"scaffolding of the structure" with the aid of which the 
human mind created for itself a means of adequate expres- 
sion (Cf. Edm. Noble, "The Principle of Economy in Evo- 
lution", Popular Science Monthly, July, 1897). 

To illustrate the point in question, attention may be called 
to the utter inadequacy of the ordinary definitions of subject 
and predicate. Swinton's (loc. cit. p. 205) definition is: 
"The subject names that of which something is thought; the 
predicate tells what is thought." Metcalf's (loc. cit. p. 
15) says: "The part of the sentence which represents the 
thing of which something is said, is the subject; the part of 
a sentence which represents what is said of the thing named 
by the subject, is the predicate." Maxwell's: "The subject, — 
the word or words denoting that about which something is 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 205 

said ; the predicate, — expressing what is said of the thing de- 
noted by the subject." Even a good mind will find it some- 
what puzzling to get the sense of these stilted and labored 
explanations; the majority will certainly fail to recognize 
subjective and predicative relations in even a simple sentence, 
from studying these definitions which vainly attempt to give 
an elementary, yet at the same time highly logical form to 
a concept which cannot be understood in its abstract fulness 
by children whose minds are as yet hedged in by a wilderness 
of concrete objects. But how will anyone succeed in sifting 
out the grammatical subject and predicate, following the 
above directions, from the following, not very complex pe- 
riod taken from "Black Beauty": "We saw a light at the 
hall door and at the upper windows, and as we came up, 
Mistress ran out saying, 'Are you really safe, my dear?' " etc. 
Nine out of ten will point out the light, or being safe, or 
almost any other word, as the things "about which some- 
thing is said," rather than the apparently insignificant words, 
"we" and "Mistress". And what will impress the children to 
be the "main thought" ? Will Swinton's definition help them 
to recognize the predication? 

As has been before suggested in these pages, an apprecia- 
tion of grammatical relation cannot be developed in children 
by abstract definitions and formal drill. But let us suppose 
that the pupils have had plenty of exercises with puzzles as 
described before, and that close questioning on reading lessons 
has enabled them to grasp readily the meaning of what they 
read, and has made them appreciative of the value of concise 
and coherent expression. Then the component parts of the 
sentences will stand out to them in clear relief, even without 
being labeled ; and exercises in substituting synonyms and 
antonyms for the words and phrases used in the text, and in 
compositions, so as to modify or entirely change the original 
meaning, will further prepare them for understanding sen- 
tence-construction. The substitution exercises will lead up 
to sentence-building, still preparatory to more formal drill. 

The idea of subjectivity will be fitly introduced by a 
clearer conception of substantivity, at least in a concrete way. 
To this the reading of German text will help : all nouns, or 



206 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

words used substantively, beginning with capitals in that 
language. By the assistance of this device, children will soon 
learn to distinguish nouns from the other parts of speech, 
even tho they would not be able to give or understand a sat- 
isfactory definition. Thru the German and later on thru the 
Latin, the idea of case will come naturally to the child, and 
frequent exercises (in sentences) will fix the concept of case 
relation in his mind. Then there will come a time when it 
will dawn upon the child that while other cases are irregu- 
larly represented, there occurs in every sentence some sub- 
stantive word in the nominative case, to which the rest of the 
sentence stands in a relation of grammatical dependence. The 
nominative functions will reveal the idea of subject in distinc- 
tion from the predication, not vice-versa, as is the course 
taken by most grammars for schools. In a similar manner, 
which may be called the method of observation and experi- 
ment, the object will be recognized no matter whether it be 
an accusative, dative, or genitive object. The study of 
French will be found less helpful in this connection than 
German and Latin, as it is as caseless as in English. 

When the time arrives for crystallizing the young student's 
grammatical experience relative to the elements of a sentence, 
in the form of definitions, the following which are here 
tentatively suggested may be found convenient: 

( 1 ) The nominative case in a sentence names that which 
is the subject, i. e. the cause, or agent, of some action. It is 
called the SUBJECT. In the sentences expressing a quality, 
condition, or state, the nominative, or Subject, names that of 
which the quality, condition, or state, is asserted. 

(2) The action performed by the Subject, or the quality 
or state, which is asserted of the Subject, is called the Predi- 
cate of the sentence. 

The function of Object, of activity and passivity, etc., can 
be deduced from these fundamental definitions without much 
difficulty. 

There is a class of sentences which are not infrequently a 
source of trouble to a teacher and learner. The author refers 
to those expressing a quality, etc., or as Maxwell puts it in his 
"Advanced Lessons in English Grammar", those containing 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 207 

"verbs of incomplete predication" whose "complement is 
either an adjective modifying the subject, or a noun or pro- 
noun denoting the same person or thing as the subject." The 
predicate noun, pronoun, or adjective is easily misunderstood 
by inexperienced students and confused with the object of a 
transitive verb. It will elucidate the relation of Subject and 
Predicate in these expressions and throw the functions of the 
so-called "copula" into stronger relief if we conceive of these 
sentences as equations either actual or apparent, or condi- 
tional. Subject and Predicate are then the terms or members 
of the equation, and the "copula" represents the sign of equa- 
tian. Thus : 

"The man is a gentleman", means: 

The man = a gentleman. 

"Anna seems sick" means : 

Anna = a sick person (in appearance). 

"The soldier lay lifeless but beautiful" means : 

The soldier = a lifeless but beautiful form (the verb re- 
ferring at the same time to his position, and to past time). 

In this way the possibility of confusion seems eliminated, 
and a rational conception of the true significance of the ex- 
pression made possible. In highly inflected languages the 
nouns, pronouns, and adjectives of the predication signify the 
equation character of the expression by agreeing with the 
subject in gender, number and case. 

Instruction in the correct use of English should, for rea- 
sons which are apparent from the foregoing statements, be 
strictly correlated to that of the foreign languages, and not so 
much by way of parallelism as of sequence, so that they may 
be mutually helpful, and that each may supply what is wanted 
in the other. Latin, with its stricter rules and completer 
forms, requires more concentration than even German does, 
and while some knowledge of it will prove helpful to all (Cf. 
the Report of the Committee of Ten on Secondary School 
Studies, N. E. A.), it will serve as a touchstone of the power 
of abstract reasoning, and assist the teacher in recognizing 
those who are capable of special scientific study of a higher 
order. Its study is fitly introduced towards the close of the 
pre-pubertal period, or right at, or shortly after pubescence, 



208 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

when the dawn of true reasoning sets in, when the new forces 
manifest themselves vigorously and give a more pronouncedly 
individual character to each child. 

The framing of definitions of the parts of speech, and 
formal exercises in etymology and syntax, with which ordi- 
nary grammar instruction used to begin, may be legitimately 
reserved for secondary or even college courses. Thus, the 
accepted order of grammar teaching may have to be altogether 
reversed to meet the demands of a better psychological appre- 
ciation of the child's mental development. 

The writer is not ignorant of the many intelligent attempts 
which have been made to place language instruction upon a 
more rational basis. He knows that many teachers are now 
following progressive lines in this branch, and he has exam- 
ined many new language books which, in a large measure, 
recognize the facts and principles here set forth. But most 
of even the more meritorious ones of these books contain not 
only too much matter (and some utterly superfluous things, 
such as pedantic distinction between "statement and ques- 
tions") but too many, and often ill-expressed definitions. And 
the order in which the different topics are introduced is rarely 
even approximately commensurate to the different stages of 
child development. It may recommend itself to the compe- 
tent teacher to place no text-book at all into the hands of the 
pupils, but to adapt the instruction to the varying needs and 
opportunities. 

No attempt is here made to outline a definite course of 
study on the basis of the principles set forth. What has been 
here proposed is mainly suggestive, and may have to be re- 
vised. Yet, the value of the facts presented will remain un- 
shaken, even if some of the inferences drawn from them may 
prove to be fallacious ; and many of the more practical sugges- 
tions have already been tried in actual work and been found 
helpful. 



CHAPTER XIII 
Reading and Literature 

MUCH criticism has been made in the last few 
years on the result of the teaching of reading 
in the schools. It is maintained that the output 
of our elementary as well as high schools has 
lost much of that appreciation of good litera- 
ture in the broad sense which it is claimed was characteris- 
tic of their forefathers. Present day pupils know a few class- 
ical writers with fair accuracy, but have no knowledge of the 
field of literature as such, not even English literature, not 
to speak of the world's masterpieces. Allusions to ancient 
and modern classics, to Homer, Virgil, Dante, Goethe, Schil- 
ler, Thackeray, George Eliot, seem to be completely lost on 
the child of modern education. And this in spite of the fact 
that the market is flooded with inexpensive reprints of every 
"classic" under the sun. The knowledge of the great writ- 
ers of the past seems to be fast disappearing, according to the 
views of these critics. 

The old Reader, containing bits of literature from many 
sources, has now in many schools been replaced by a few 
complete books. The tendency was to have, in lieu of the 
fragmentary reading of former times, something that is com- 
plete. There was much to be commended in this innova- 
tion, except that it was overdone. It is not natural with 
children to make an exhaustive study of a few things. Such 
an attempt has a stultifying effect. It causes, as it were, 
mental dyspepsia. Children want to be touched on many 
points. They can take in a wide range of inspirations and 
typical suggestions. On the other hand, if they were fed 

209 



210 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

merely on bits, never getting a full well-balanced meal, they 
would be apt to develop that weakness of mental digestion 
which would disable them ever to assimilate and enjoy a 
complete work of literature. The desire for short stories, 
and the chopped style of newspaper information, so charac- 
teristic of this period, may in a measure be due to our hav- 
ing been fed upon the fragmentary and cut-up food served 
out to us in our younger days from the old time Reader. 
Both forms of reading material, it seems, should be provided. 
Practice in rapid reading, instead of constant patient delving 
into details should be secured. Children need not study like 
a philologist, or a literary critic. 

Another cause for the phenomenon above referred to may 
be found in the failure of the ordinary reading course to 
adapt itself to the successive interests of the children. The 
consequence is that the school reading ceases to mean much to 
them; it is considered as a tedious task to be done with as 
speedily as possible. Enjoyment is sought in promiscuous 
reading out of school, and as their taste has not been cul- 
tivated, and their needs have been supremely disregarded by 
the educational agencies, the children turn to trashy, sensa- 
tional stuff which burdens their minds with unwholesome 
notions and enters into their souls like an insidious poison. 
The Elsie books are but apparently different from the reg- 
ulation dime novel in this respect. Even the great mass of 
Sunday school books, and books written expressly for chil- 
dren, are trashy and cater rather to their perverse taste than 
that they satisfy their real, normal needs. 

The cultivation of the children's taste for wholesome read- 
ing is as easy or difficult a task as is their habituation to 
truly nourishing food for their bodies. He who is accus- 
tomed to regular nourishing meals such as are adapted to his 
varying needs in physical development, in health and disease, 
and who has been given healthful exercise stimulating the 
natural functions, will rarely feel that craving for an exces- 
sive use of sweets, dainties, and spices which is characteristic 
of the underfed or the overfed, or of those who wallow in 
sloth and idleness. Likewise, when the child is given the 
proper mental food, at regular times, alternating with periods 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 211 

and exercises for mental assimilation, enough food and not 
too much, such as corresponds with the real needs of the 
child, there will be little danger of his developing morbid 
desires. A healthy child, properly brought up, enjoys healthy 
things and has a natural aversion to mental and physical 
poison. Temporary aberrations need not alarm us as long 
as we follow carefully the successive fluctuations of the child's 
evolution. 

School reading becomes a hateful burden to the child, even 
in the early periods of his school career, also because of the 
interest-killing methods of teaching employed in many schools. 
It degenerates too often into a mechanical exercise, and the 
thought is lost for the sake of the letter. This again has 
two causes: First, reading is begun too early, before the 
child's organs of perception are ready for it, and before his 
mind is mature enough to assimilate properly the matter of 
the reading lessons, so that the process becomes a painful 
struggle from beginning to end; and second, the study of 
reading lessons is too formal, laying stress on structure, gram- 
mar, parsing, etc., rather than upon the living thought. Read- 
ing after all is for gaining the thought — not for the taking 
apart of the dead bones of the language. By dissecting the tis- 
sues of a body you will fail to find the soul. 

As to the first point: We begin reading too low down in 
the grades. Attempts have even been made to vitiate the 
atmosphere of the kindergarten by teaching the babes the 
art of reading. 

We are altogether too impatient to introduce our chil- 
dren to the formal arts. This means a misconception of the 
meaning of education. Should the fact that there have been 
advanced so many different methods for the teaching of read- 
ing to little children, each of them claiming to be the patent 
method, and each being effective only within very narrow 
limits and largely failing to produce satisfactory results any- 
where — should not the further fact that it costs such an 
enormous expenditure of time and energy on the part of 
teacher and pupils to learn the rudiments of reading in the 
primary grades, and that the reading of the upper grades 
rarely loses this rudimentary character — should these facts, 



212 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

among others, not cause us to hesitate and reflect before we 
decide to continue the practice? 

When we remember that the child repeats, in a general 
way, the successive developmental stages of the race, we may 
well doubt whether we should base early education upon 
these formal arts. There have been ages of civilization before 
reading and writing played any important part in general 
culture. We may concede that the modern child, being the 
heir of all previous ages, is born into a modern environment 
which presents to him a vastly greater opportunity than 
primitive man had, and that his mind itself is an inheritance 
of inestimably greater value than his ancestors possessed, — 
yet we need not draw the conclusion that we should stimulate 
and hasten his development, his coining and squandering his 
patrimony, before he reaches the degree of maturity to do that 
with impunity. 

It is certainly wrong to judge popular education mainly 
by the standard of reading and writing. They are by no 
means the only means of spiritual culture. It is a pity that 
the value of oral instruction is so thoroly overlooked in our 
textbook age when a child is not thought to be learning any- 
thing unless he absorbs one of the many methods of primary 
reading when he is not more than six, and can scrawl his 
name and a number of empty words on his slate or in his copy 
book. Justly a reference has been made by thoughtful writers 
to the fact that the patriarchs of the Bible were illiterate, and 
that there are now not only primitive tribes, but portions of 
our own white population, in remote districts of our land, 
people who have been called "our contemporary ancestors", 
in the Southern mountains, for instance, whose life is truly 
patriarchical to this day, "men and women who with deep 
tho narrow experiences have reflected upon the problems of 
life, and subjected themselves to its discipline, until they 
have gained the poise and power of true philosophers." Yet 
they are practically illiterate. There have been ages of civil- 
ization, of even high culture, in the past, created by peoples 
uninitiated to the arts of reading and writing in the modern 
sense, and where popular education in these arts was con- 
spicuously absent, where only the most initiated of the priest- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 213 

hood had any knowledge of the kind which we now are in- 
clined to take as a criterion of education even in the youngest 
school child. 

Everyone learns oral language before written language. 
This is the order of procedure in the racial development. 
Consequently those brain centers which govern heard and 
spoken speech, the auditory and motor centers, are earlier 
developed and better organized than the writing and reading 
centers which represent a much later development. Reading 
and writing are but a veneer of civilization as yet. 

We may even make an application of this fact to our deal- 
ings with the undeveloped races to which our colonizing ef- 
forts are reaching out. In an address by the eminent Egyptol- 
ogist, Dr. Flinders Petrie, on "The Anthropological View of 
Civilization," the professor said things which have signifi- 
cance not only for modern problems of the "white man's bur- 
den", but also for ordinary school education as long as we 
appreciate children to represent, in their gradual advance thru 
school classes, successive civilizatory stages. To quote from 
an editorial on Petrie's article : " 'We talk complacently,' 
says the professor, 'about the mysterious decay of savages be- 
fore white man.' There is nothing mysterious about it; we 
change their environment, we subject them to new laws, 
force them to adopt new habits, give an unwonted direction 
and exercise to their mental faculties, subject them in a hun- 
dred ways to a psychological strain which they are unable 
to stand, and the result is that they wither just as we should 
do if we were similarly treated. Of all systems, that which 
the Anglo-Saxon race seeks to impose upon the weaker peo- 
ples with which it comes in contact is the most oppressive. 
'Scarcely a single race,' the professor emphatically declares, 
'can bear the contact and the burden.' In regard to the 
Egyptians, he gives his own experience. 'Some of the peasan- 
try are taught to read and write, and the result is that they 
become fools. I can not say this too plainly: an Egyptian 
who has had reading and writing thrust upon him is, in every 
case that I have met with, half-witted, silly, or incapable of 
taking care of himself. His intellect and his health have 



214 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

been undermined and crippled by the forcing of education.'* 
"Is it impossible, then, for the more advanced races to lend 
any real assistance to the less advanced? It is, if the only 
idea of assisting them is to Europeanize them; but not, if the 
more rational idea is adopted of a gradual education along 
wholly natural lines, with due regard to conditions both 
present and antecedent. 'Our bigoted belief,' says Prof. 
Petrie, 'in reading and writing is not in the least justified 
when we look at the mass of mankind. The exquisite art and 
noble architecture of Mykenae, the undying song of Homer, 
the extensive trade of the bronze age, all belonged to people 
who neither read nor wrote. The great essentials of a valu- 
able character — moderation, justice, sympathy, politeness and 
consideration, quick observation, shrewdness, ability to plan 
and prearrange, a keen sense of the uses and properties of 
things — all these are qualities on which I value my Egyptian 
friends, and such qualities are what should be evolved by any 
education worth the name.' " 

To the modern adult, reading seems so simple a process 
that he overlooks the fact that it involves a complex activity 
of nerves and brain which presupposes a certain maturity of 
mental adjustment. The combination of thing, name, sound, 
and symbol into one organized concept is a difficult perform- 
ance. 

Each one of these perceptions has its own center in the 
brain, and it requires the establishment of strong concepts 
for each, and of smooth association tracts, to enable a child to 
have a connected mental image of an object or an action. 

In the endeavor to "simplify" the reading in the beginning, 
the teacher is obliged to introduce at first uninteresting and 
slowly progressing reading matter to which the child has no 
natural leaning. 

But even tho there were a natural or artificial craving on 
the part of the children to learn how to read at this early 
period, or even if their minds were mature enough to grapple 



*It may be well to draw a lesson from this statement with 
regard to the schooling of the colored population of our own 
South. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 215 

with the difficulties of the conceptual process, — their sense 
organs, their nervous development generally, would offer a 
most emphatic veto. There are physiological considerations 
which will cause us to look at these early attempts at reading 
and writing, as a performance fraught with grave dangers 
for the healthy development of the child. 

The child, as has been stated before, is far-sighted at this 
age, and if required to concentrate his vision on near and 
minute objects, is apt to be more or less seriously injured in 
his power of vision and in his nervous vigor. Reading, writ- 
ing, and even drawing involve, as has been shown, a high de- 
gree of motor specialization, in arms, wrist, hand, finger, and 
eye adjustment. Even the body posture is an element in this 
adjustment, and if the child is forced at an early age to 
assume strained positions for the purpose of those finer 
specializations of movement as required by reading and writ- 
ing in books, he may suffer in consequence. It is a notable 
fact that visual and spinal defects increase in number and 
percentage in the child's progress from lower to higher grades 
in school. 

It may be interesting to remind the reader in this connec- 
tion of the instructive investigations of the late Prof. Her- 
man Cohn, of Breslau. He has shown that the range of vi- 
sion in the open, not only with primitive peoples, but even 
with modern school children, far surpasses that ever tested 
within the walls of house or room, and indeed all expecta- 
tions. 

Even with regard to spoken language, the premature teach- 
ing of reading, requiring fine adjustments of speech organs, 
seems at times to have an injurious effect. Attention has 
been called to the high per cent, of stutterers in the element- 
ary schools, and the great increase of stuttering after the 
transition from the kindergarten to the lowest primary 
classes. It is a very significant fact that this increase hap- 
pens, with boys and girls alike, at a time when instruction in 
reading aloud is begun, and it may be asked whether there 
might not be a cause and explanation for this in faulty meth- 
ods of teaching. Even in enunciating clearly and precisely, 
altho certain discreet exercises are sure to be helpful, an 



216 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

undue forcing may lead to disaster. 

The fact should be emphasized that a child mature enough 
in mind and body to grapple with the written and printed 
symbols of words and things, that is, a child of about eight 
or nine years, will learn to read without much effort and dif- 
ficulty, and indeed in a comparatively short time. There will 
have been, up to this period, a great deal of more or less 
unconscious absorption of literal symbols, and reading will 
come to him almost without purposive application. Here, 
as in other branches, he learns by psychological, not by log- 
ical methods. In the Third grade, perhaps there may be con- 
centration on the formal side of reading. 

The child will apply himself to the conquest of books as 
soon as he awakens to an understanding of their use and 
meaning. When he is interested in the subject matter to be 
gotten out of them, he will learn to read as quickly as did 
the boy Alfred in the olden times of Anglo-Saxon England. 
The element of interest is of supreme importance here as in 
all other studies. 

It is true some children are, by the force of their environ- 
ment, stimulated to a very early development of the faculty 
of reading. Where there is a book-loving atmosphere in the 
home, the growing children may breathe it in as they will 
the natural air in which they thrive. Where reading comes 
thus natural, and where an inheritance of special culture will 
strengthen their power of absorption along this line, the harm 
done may be minimal. Yet, artificial desires are awakened 
only too often by the hot-house culture some children are 
subjected to from the time of their birth. The conventional 
notions of what constitutes education have unfortunately in- 
vaded the very nurseries. Or again, there are precocious 
children whose rate of mental growth is abnormally rapid. 
The nervous tension of our modern society has produced 
many such. But in neither case will the further develop- 
ment of the children justify the early overstimulation; few 
precocious children will fail to evince signs of weakness some- 
where at a relatively early period. 

In investigating the rational method of teaching reading, 
let us be reminded of the steps the race has taken in develop- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 217 

ing graphic and literal symbols for things, sounds, and words. 
A detailed reference to totems, cord records, and similar meth- 
ods of recording events and emblematising objects and 
thoughts, may here be omitted. It is, however, well enough 
known that writing proper took its origin in picture rec- 
ords, hieroglyphic representations of various kinds. In "La 
Science Francaise", T. Obalski said this: 

"An instinct for imitation leads man to reproduce the 
forms of surrounding objects, and in the invention of the 
graphic art he has aimed to materialize his thoughts and give 
them form and substance ; he has wished to supply the place 
of the absent word, and even to depict it to the eye in the 
present and in the future. . . . 

"It is generally admitted that writing was at first ideo- 
graphic and solely by means of pictures, as it is yet among 
certain Indian tribes of North America; it then became pho- 
netic, then syllabic, and finally alphabetic, thus reaching its 
apogee. 

"Certain of the letters of the alphabet themselves have a 
very pronounced pictorial origin. The first letters of the 
Greek alphabet, for instance, had once the form of an ox's 
head, of a house, of a tent, of a camel, of a door, etc. 

"In ideographic writing, man limits himself to the repre- 
sentation pure and simple of the beings or objects which he 
wishes to recall, such as a tree, a brook, a lion. This is 
ideographism proper or concrete. . . . 

"Next we come to pure symbolism, which consists in ex- 
pressing abstract ideas by figures that will suggest these ideas 
to others, a bird signifying speed, a fox cunning, etc. 

"From this point to phonetic writing there is an immense 
step to be taken. Here the image or symbol must represent 
a sound. The 'rebus' is really a transition form between 
ideographic and phonetic writing. 

On the strength of these facts, would it not commend 
itself to introduce, with children, the arts of writing and 
reading also by way of picture writing and picture reading? 
Picture books have been the delight of children ever since 
there were children and picture books. A more systematic 
use might be made of these, so that the ideographic method 



2i8 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

would lead over to symbolic representation, and from there 
to phonetic conception. The rebus, being pictorial in char- 
acter, but at the same time phonetic and introducing letter 
forms as representations of certain elementary sounds, may 
still be employed to initiate the children to phonetic apprecia- 
tion. It is apt to arouse their intense interest, and will thus 
engage their close attention. It is surer to develop phonetic 
distinction in the child than if we would begin to harass him 
by sounding every vocal element of each word with tedious 
pedantry. 

Such work as this need not exclude altogether an early in- 
troduction of a selected number of printed or written words, 
or even phrases, as wholes, serving as cogs to the memory, in 
connection with the oral and objective work done at this 
stage. Thus, remembering that this is the "naming period", 
we may teach the children to recognize the names of things, 
of the points of the compass, of the heroes and heroines of the 
stories told and retold, as of Cinderella, Apollon, Baldur, 
etc. These names will, in the children's memory, be asso- 
ciated with the mental images they have gained of these 
things and personages, and altho at the beginning more or 
less hieroglyphic in character, they will form a bridge towards 
a more abstract conception of symbolic representation. Con- 
sisting of alphabetic elements as these words do, they will also 
initiate the child, without much conscious effort, largely by 
absorption, to an appreciation of the alphabetic symbols of 
certain sounds at least. 

The first books to be placed in the hands of children, it has 
been said, should be picture books. But the first printed vol- 
umes given them, in the Third grade, for instance, might fitly 
contain the stories told in the previous grades, quite closely 
following the oral form in which they were originally pre- 
sented, so that the child may readily recognize his old friends, 
and thru them have opened up to him the wide world of book 
knowledge. 

As soon as the printed page is offered to the child, the 
hygiene of reading requires attention. Few schoolbooks meet 
hygienic requirements. And yet, when we consider what fine 
muscular adjustments are necessary to enable the child to 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 219 

recognize readily the complex and intricate forms of letters 
and get snapshots of the words read on his retina, we shall 
appreciate how important it is, especially with beginners, to 
make the conditions for reading as normal as possible. 

"Type should not be less than 1.5 mm. in height; it should 
be leaded, and the illumination of the printed page should not 
be less than 100 candle-meters. Yet most schoolbooks are 
printed in small type, without leads, on poor or glazed paper, 
and the illumination in many school rooms is less than two 
candle-meters. Prof. Catell found the relative legibility of 
the small letters to be in the following order rdkmqhbpw 
ultvzrofnaxyeigcs. Thus some of the let- 
ters most frequently used are among the most illegible."* 

To make the hygienic conditions of reading favorable is 
the least we must do to enable the child to build up with ease, 
rapidity, and clearness the composite concept which is the 
result of the reading process. To analyze briefly the elements 
of this composite concept, let us be reminded that there must 
first be the mental image of the thing itself — this image is, 
indeed the first symbol of the real object. Then there is the 
name of the thing. This again, as a spoken word, produces a 
sound image; as a written or printed word, a visual image. 
Here we have already three mental images which must blend 
to produce a complete concept. That each of these is in itself 
composite, in as much as the object no more than its spoken or 
written name consists of component parts to each of which 
corresponds a mental counterpart, may be remarked in pass- 
ing. But each also contains at the same time not only 
sensory elements, but also motor elements. Hearing may be 
considered a relatively simple sensory process; but in seeing 
the word on the page or the blackboard, there is a fine muscu- 
lar adjustment of the visual apparatus, to secure true focus- 
ing. This muscular effort leaves a motor trace in the mem- 



*From a report on "Conditions of Fatigue in Reading," based 
on investigations by Prof. Catell, of Columbia University, in 
Child Study Monthly, November, 1896. A complete statement 
of hygienic requirements in reading, by Prof. Burnham, will be 
found in the School Jrl. of Dec. 30, 1899, p. 720. 



no THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

ory. Again the word as heard, calls forth a more or less 
conscious reproduction by imitation, by means of our vocal 
organs, even tho this were done "silently", i. e. without the 
uttering of a sound, the vocal musculature being merely 
"tuned" to the word ; and the motor element of muscular 
effort in pronouncing the word is also recorded in the brain, 
alongside with and overlapping the other elements of this 
composite concept. It should also be remembered that the 
sound of our own voice, in speaking the word, produces an 
additional element in this composition. Further, there is the 
motor activity needed in zvriting the word, which must be 
superadded to the previous elements. All these memories 
combine in the production of the complete concept, and may 
recall each other mutually, so that the sound or the printed 
form, of the word, may automatically call forth the rest of 
these memories, including the image of the thing itself, and 
vice versa. But to make this possible, care must be taken to 
knit these elements closely together. 

The component parts of such a conceptual colony do not 
necessarily form a democracy, each having equal right and 
influence. There are, among men, different types, according 
to one or the other of these elements prevailing, predominat- 
ing, and controlling the others. Thus, we distinguish the 
visual type where a visual image predominates, whereas the 
others are more or less dim and ineffective. In the auditory 
type, the spoken word recalls most easily all the other com- 
ponent factors. Then we have the motor type when the 
motor memories prevail ; and the indefinite mixed type. Ear- 
mindedness and eye-mindedness, as the corresponding two 
types are sometimes called, play an important part in learning 
to spell. Then again, the curious observation has been made 
that different persons have quite different mental symbols 
which are employed by them to represent the whole of these 
conceptual compositions. Thinking of a tree, e. g., some of us 
will have rising before the mind's eye the image of a tree 
itself, usually belonging to the species to which they attached 
the label "tree" when they first formed this concept, thus 
showing the effect of their early environment. To others, 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 221 

the word "tree" will conjure up no such objective image, 
but merely an auditory memory, or image, so that, with them, 
the symbol of the whole concept comprised therein will be 
the memory of the spoken word. Others, again, especially 
those the bulk of whose knowledge comes from books, will 
have the image of the printed word. In fact, it will be a rare 
occurrence when all composing elements will be called up at 
the same time. It is in the nature of the human mind to 
work thru symbols and formulae, and for each mind to select 
its own symbol, the one which corresponds most closely to 
its individual life-conditions. 

This tendency to drop the majority of the constituent parts 
of a concept unless they are absolutely needed for a pains- 
taking identification of the same, and to rely for its rapid 
recognition upon some reduced symbol, so to speak, is also evi- 
dent in the process of reading. When we have once mastered 
the mechanical part of this art, we rarely take the trouble to 
recognize in detail every letter or even every single word, 
but allow ourselves to be guided mainly by the thought-sug- 
gestions which the words convey. In a report on his prelim- 
inary experiments in the Physiology and Psychology of Read- 
ing* Edmund B. Huey shows that "sense" reading is faster 
than nonsense reading, owing to the subexcitations of asso- 
ciation tracts, one word suggesting its usual complement. 
The first part of a word more readily suggests the entire 
word than the last part. In sense reading, he claims we 
really do not decipher every word. Says Prof. Jos. Jastrow :* 

"There is a mind behind the eye and ear and the finger 
tips which guides them in gathering information, and gives 
value and order to the exercise of the senses. This is par- 
ticularly true of vision, the most intellectual of all the 
senses, and one in which mere acuteness of the sense-organ 
counts least and the training in observation counts most. 
The eagle's eye sees farther, but our eyes tell us much more 
of what is seen. . . . The importance of the mind's 
eye in ordinary vision is also well illustrated in cases in which 



*Amer. Jrl. of Psych., IX, 4. 

*"The Mind's Eye", Pop. Science Monthly, Jan., 1899. 



222 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

we see or seem to see what is not really present, but what 
for one cause or another it is natural to suppose is present. 
A very familiar instance of this process is the constant over- 
looking of misprints — false letters, transposed letters, and 
missing letters — unless these happen to be particularly strik- 
ing. We see only the general physiognomy of the word and 
the detailed features are supplied from within; in this case 
it is the expected that happens. Reading is done largely by 
the mental eye; and entire words obviously suggested by the 
context, are sometimes read in, when they have been acci- 
dently omitted. . . . The mental predisposition . . . 

. . becomes the dominant factor." 

From this the conclusion is justified that even in the teach- 
ing of reading there must be an interesting, attention arous- 
ing thought which will attract the child and which he will 
endeavor to cull from the printed page. It is needless to 
prove that such sentences as "The cat is on the mat," or, 
"The man has a stick," erroneously nicknamed "stories", do 
not present to the child an attractive thought. 

When, in his eager and impatient search for the thought, 
the child should occasionally happen to omit certain words, 
or to substitute others for those in the book, we need not feel 
unduly disturbed. Let us be satisfied if the child, above all 
other things, does get the thought. During this process of 
finding the thought, we should not harass him by pedantic 
interruptions and corrections. After he has got the sense of 
the sentence, or selection, we may, by judicious questioning, 
call his attention to the correct expressions, and in general 
to the form in which the thought is expressed. It is well, 
then, to cultivate an appreciation of the lucid and pregnant 
manner in which the author has handled the language as his 
tool for adequate expression, and to give the pupil practice 
in the proper use of words and phrases, following the great 
examples set by masters of style. 

But before books can be intelligently used, much oral 
work should be done, not only that the child may gain ma- 
turity of thought and appreciation, so as to read understand- 
ing^ and with due amount of pleasure from the beginning, 
but also for the purpose of training his vocal organs ju- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 223 

diciously so that they be pliable and ready agents for correct 
enunciation and pleasing delivery. Oral work in foreign 
languages will assist the child in exploring and practicing a 
wide range of sounds; he will then find himself capable of 
adjusting himself to all requirements of well-modulated, 
clear and agreeable reading. Singing is also a great help in 
training the vocal organs, including a proper use of lungs and 
chest. "In the correction of errors in language," suggests 
Prof. Lukens, "the ear can be more easily trained than the 
eye to recognize and use correct forms. Children appreciate 
and take delight in matters of euphony. Pretty sounds are 
enjoyed, and if matters of this kind receive their due place 
early in life, they will later widen out to beauty of style. The 
ear is the organ of the emotions more than any other sense, 
and there is much less danger from too great use of the ear 
in early school work than of the eye." 

But in all these efforts we must take care to form the 
child's taste by giving him real literature from the beginning. 
The oral work may be done by telling, or reading, stories, 
poetic selections, etc., to the children; these the pupils may 
reproduce, and in part commit to memory. There is too 
little of this telling and memorizing of good selections done 
nowadays. Let us carefully select gems of poetry, interest- 
ing to children, even tho their language may remain partly 
mysterious to them; proverbs and sayings, such in which the 
wisdom of ages is crystallized. Stories, myths, and fairy- 
tales will be largely suggested by the other work of the 
school, as frequently indicated in these chapters. But let us 
understand that all these selections must represent eternal 
motives, not merely silly fancies ; that they must be typical in 
form and content, so as to have an imperishable value for 
the children's mental and moral development. We should 
give only what is best and lasting, the perennial creations of 
the human mind, those that symbolize eternal truths in the 
life of nature and of man. Bar out the silly trash written up 
by the penny-a-liner children's books manufacturer. 

The old myths can be told over in a modernized form, if 
you please, such as President David Starr Jordan has at- 
tempted in his charming "Book of Knight and Barbara" 



224 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

(New York, Appleton), without fear that the true spirit 
would be lost. Let us remember that, after all, our chil- 
dren are modern children, living in a modern environ- 
ment, and that they have no apperceptive basis for ancient 
conditions. To adapt the ancient myths to modern concep- 
tions is therefore perfectly legitimate; it is the eternal, typ- 
ical thought for which we care most, surely at this stage more 
than for ethnographic information. Our own fairy-tales, 
what else are they but mediaeval adaptations of ancient myth- 
ological elements? No fear need to be entertained that such 
treatment will spoil the children's future enjoyment of the 
classic form, provided they are introduced to the latter at 
the proper stage of their development and in a spirited way. 

This oral work should be continued thru the reading 
period, supplementing the book work; and similar selec- 
tion should characterize the reading material. Have them 
read only what is worth reading. There is a wealth of good 
literature to draw from. There is no excuse for restricting 
the children to a few made-up books when they should read 
as much as they can assimilate. 

Reading has two objects: to mediate information, and to 
give inspiration. Information represents the knowledge-ele- 
ment; inspiration is drawn from the ethical ideals which 
lofty poetry and literature is destined to arouse in our souls. 
But no sharp line can be drawn between the two. Even 
information, if of the right kind, and presented in the right 
form, will give inspiration: inspiration towards mental ef- 
fort, self-culture, and self-perfection, and towards following 
the lead of the masters of thought, of knowledge, of action. 
To secure this effect we should place in the hands of the 
young only the best books, even on the side of mere infor- 
mation. The master of a science is usually best able to ex- 
press its message. At any rate, supplementary literature 
reading should accompany all other work. Read Bancroft 
and Mommsen and Hawthorne and Ebers for history; read 
the best poetry illustrative of historical events and geo- 
graphical facts; read Ruskin to accompany your art work; 
read Kipling's "The Ship that Found Herself", or his "007", 
to learn how even brute machinery, the product of man's 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 225 

most ingenious conquest of nature, can be endowed with a liv- 
ing soul. 

Children, furthermore, must be taught not only what to 
read, but also how to read, so that they would get the full 
benefit of their reading, and learn to get the fullness of 
thought out of the books, and also enjoy the beauty of form. 
Their home-reading should be controlled as much as we can 
do that, by supplementing the school work thru the help of a 
school library, making use of current magazines, and con- 
necting the school systematically with the public library. Chil- 
dren must learn how best to look up references, and to find 
instructive and interesting material anywhere, or at least 
wholesome enjoyment. They might be invited to report at 
school on some, or even all, of this supplementary reading, 
for the benefit of their classmates, and for the purpose of 
enabling them to become fully conscious of what they have 
read ; yet, while aiming at some systematic form of doing so, 
avoid becoming pedantic. We must keep alive in our pupils, 
as much as feasible, the sense of freedom of choice, and we 
must respect to some degree their privacy of enjoyment. All 
this, however, requires careful, methodical procedure, so as to 
avoid waste of time and energy. 

In selecting and grading material, we shall have to follow 
the successive interests of the child as being indicative of 
natural periods of development. The culture epoch theory 
as it has been set forth in previous chapters will be our guide 
in this respect. 

Then there are two special adjustments to be made. The 
first is in regard to the periods of the reading interest. There 
are, as has been shown before, maximum and minimum pe- 
riods of this interest. Thus, while at the proper stages we 
may concentrate on reading, in school and supplementary, at 
others there should be a letting off, and concentration on 
other work, objective and manual. 

The second adjustment is one to individual conditions 
and needs. Each one can be reached best thru his supreme 
interest; and if care is taken that in class work there be an 
exchange of individual experiences, by reports and discus- 
sions under proper guidance, there will be no narrowing 



226 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

down to individual idiosyncrasies, no danger of the pupils be- 
coming one-sided and unredeemable, but a community of in- 
terests will be established, and mutual appreciation and re- 
spect secured. Individualization as to special interests in- 
cludes, of course, a proper regard for the different interests 
of the two sexes, at the successive stages of sexual differentia- 
tion. 

The main purpose of the study of literature, as Dr. Wm. 
T. Harris once put it, is that it affords "vicarious experi- 
ence". The author will close this chapter with a quotation 
from the essay in which this helpful view is set forth : 

"The greatest poets are Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and 
Goethe, and these artists are in the truest sense educators of 
mankind. The types of character exhibited in their literary 
works of art, Achilles, Agamemnon, Ulysses, Macbeth, Ham- 
let, Wilhelm Meister, and Faust have helped and will always 
help all mankind to self-knowledge by showing them how 
feelings become convictions, and how convictions become 
deeds, and how deeds react upon the doer thru the great 
organisms of human society. The world-wisdom of a people 
is largely derived from its national poets not as a moral 
philosophy but as vicarious experience. Aristotle said that 
the drama purifies the spectator by showing him how his feel- 
ings and convictions will result when carried out. Without 
making the experiment himself, he profits by participating 
in the world of experience depicted for him by the poet." 



CHAPTER XIV 

Oral and Written Composition 

IN order to ascertain what part composition is to play 
in education, and by what means we may accomplish the 
best results, we must first be clear in our minds as to 
what is the real purpose of composition. In most schools 
it is mainly subservient to grammatical drill; sentence 
building and even essay-writing are utilized for the formal 
practice in the application of certain grammatical rules and 
usages, or of rhetorical prescriptions. The author has never 
been able to reconcile himself to the use of the term "com- 
position" as applied to the teaching of Latin and Greek syn- 
tax in our schools, signifying as it does here a putting together 
of detached language bits into certain grammatical relations 
without particular reference to the development of a thought 
content. Such exercises are indeed valuable and necessary, 
altho in lower grades they are often overdone; when the 
child's mind has reached a certain degree of maturity, when 
it has become capable of abstraction and reflection, work of 
this nature will prove itself very helpful if judiciously em- 
ployed. But it is composition as little as would be exercises 
in putting chords together to form a musical sequence and 
harmony, according to the rules of the grammar of music ; or 
exercises in light and shade and outline and washes and bits 
from nature, in drawing and painting. To deserve the name 
"composition", a melody, or a picture, must be more than a 
mere technical exercise. Likewise a composition in language. 
Composition refers to composing, not of technical forms, but 
of thoughts as expressed thru form, and is in its very nature 
an art. "There is", says Disraeli, "an art of reading, as well 
as an art of thinking, and an art of writing." It has refer- 

227 



228 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

ence to a re-arrangement of the impressions we have received 
from the outside world, into some organic whole which cor- 
responds to our individual mental attitude towards these 
impressions. There must first be such an individual attitude 
— the impressions must have been worked over so as to be men- 
tal possessions, to become our own inner world, or world- 
view, world-conception. He who cannot thus assimilate his 
impressions, who cannot first of all compose them within 
himself to form organized groups in his mind, will never be 
able to make more than a bungling attempt at composition, in 
speaking or writing, however well he may master the techni- 
cal rules. 

Orderly thinking is the prerequisite for orderly speaking 
and orderly writing. A training in the art of receiving im- 
pressions, in the art of perceiving, conceiving, thinking, must, 
then, precede the training in composition. Composition sig- 
nifies the expression of our inner self. When we have suc- 
ceeded, as educators, in doing our share towards enabling the 
child to set himself right with the world about him, to find 
his mental bearings, to develop an individual attitude, — then 
the expression of this attitude will be found to be a relatively 
simple process. 

"Is it not true," asks John Burroughs, "that in literature 
proper, our interest is always in the writer himself, — his qual- 
ity, his personality, his point of view? We may fancy that 
we care only for the subject matter, but the born writer 
makes any subject interesting to us by his treatment of it or 
by the personal element he infuses into it. This 

intimate personal quality is no doubt one of the secrets of 
what is called style, perhaps the most important one. . . ." 

We must then, above all other things, work for the thought 
and feeling which may then strive for expression, and which 
will prompt the child to seek for the most adequate, precise, 
and suggestive form of expression. Form has value only as a 
means to an end. Beauty has no independent existence. 
"Function," says Walter J. Kenyon, "is the basis of all art. 
. . . The sure way to miss beauty is to try to create 
without a core of principle; to invent style for style's sake 
instead of for the truth's sake." And again : "All spontaneous 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 229 

expression, be it under skilled guidance, will make ultimately 
for beauty. No other expression is educative. . . . 
Wherever a creation is the expression of an eager soul, un- 
driven save by native impulse, it makes towards art, whether 
it is decorative or not, and whether it be sightly to the en- 
lightened or not. Art is saying to your brother what God 
says to you. The vehicle of expression does not signify." 

Thus, when there are in the child's soul real experiences, 
thoughts, feelings, aspirations, we shall have the basis of ex- 
pression thru genuine composition. If we, to the child, se- 
cure the opportunity for spontaneous expression, he will 
reveal himself to us. Essay writing, when intelligently con- 
ducted, will prove a very valuable help in the study of indi- 
vidual children. Thru their expression, we shall learn to 
understand what their impressions have been, as well as their 
characteristic attitude, their nature and longings. 

There is another side to this which is shown by Prof. Wm. 
James in these words :* 

"No reception without reaction, no impression without 
correlative expression, — this is the great maxim which the 
teacher ought never to forget. An impression which simply 
flows in at the pupil's eyes or ears, and in no way modifies 
the active life, is an impression gone to waste. It is physio- 
logically incomplete. It leaves no fruits behind it in the way 
of capacity acquired. Even as mere impression it fails to pro- 
duce its proper effect upon the memory; for, to remain fully 
amongst the acquisitions of this latter faculty, it must be 
wrought into the whole cycle of our operations. Its motor 
consequences are what clinch it. No impression 

without expression, then — . . . The expression itself 
comes back to us, . . . in the form of a still further 
impression, namely, of what we have done. We thus receive 
sensible news of our behavior and its results. We hear the 
words we have spoken, feel our own blow as we give it, or 
read the success or failure of our reactions in the bystander's 
eyes. Now, this return wave of impression pertains to the 
completeness of the whole existence." 



*"Talks to Teachers on Psychology." 



2 3 o THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

Attempts at expression, it will be seen, are a means to clar- 
ify our own thoughts and feelings. Everyone of us will have 
experienced this. As soon as we endeavor to communicate 
what is in our soul to others, we realize many an indistinct- 
ness of idea and incompleteness of argument. By putting 
our thoughts into words, we develop them and make them 
more definite. Of course, in mature life we always think in 
words; but unless we endeavor to formulate our thoughts in 
communicable form, these words will be relatively indistinct, 
as much so as the thought itself. There is, then, a reaction of 
our attempts at expression upon our own inner self which 
grows thru expression. The value of an exchange of opinions, 
of discussions, does not only lie in our gaining new light on 
the subject from the view-points of our opponents, but in 
our being obliged to define our own position more exactly and 
to adjust it to opposing argument. This is perhaps the reason 
why quite generally we come out of such discussions with 
our own opinions considerably confirmed and "stubborn- 
ized". Again, by putting our emotions into clear-cut words, 
we shall often succeed in emerging from harassing agitation 
of heart, harassing because vague and full of intoxicating, or 
torturing, imageries and indistinct visions, and thus we are 
enabled to rise above them and master them. This was the 
way in which one of the world's master-minds, Goethe, lib- 
erated himself from his ephemeral passions. (Cf. "Werthers 
Leiden." ) 

Let us not forget that of a vast number of the ideas and 
impressions dwelling in our minds we must confess that they 
are characterized by vagueness and lack of outline. Were it 
not so, there would be less nonsense, wavering, and irrational 
fancy at large. Only as far as we can express our ideas ade- 
quately, will they assume a certain degree of rational distinc- 
tion and fertility — motive power for rational action. Ex- 
pression in words is almost like a mathematical test. What 
remains unuttered and vague cannot be reasoned about ; only 
what is expressed can become a matter of argument. It is 
therefore plain enough why it is that the masters of expres- 
sion have ever been the leaders of thought, and vice versa. 

Unquestionably, definite thought depends largely upon 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 231 

definite impressions — concrete experiences well digested. 
There is a physical, or sense, basis to all thinking. "The 
Spartan children," as Edward M. Plummer* shows, "were 
superior to the other Greek children in the power of expres- 
sion, altho they were not so highly educated. This is no 
doubt due to the fact that at a very early age the Spartan 
children were forced into a free life in the open air and to 
systematic gymnastic exercise." 

Before we can expect, then, much power of expression we 
must provide ample opportunities for wholesome experience 
and natural conditions of growth. 

However, without proper exercise, the faculty of adequate 
expression will never be fully developed. We learn to swim 
by swimming, as the old adage has it. We learn to talk by 
talking; we learn to write by writing. Afford, then, the chil- 
dren abundant opportunity, in connection with all other 
school work, to express themselves in oral and written form. 
Encourage them to say and write out what they know, feel, 
hope, aspire. In this age of formal book drill, the child has 
little such chance. He is weighed down by the formulas, 
rules, and technical exercises which are, to a young child, 
principally a tax to the memory without appealing to interest 
and imagination. The effect is deplorable enough: few of 
our elementary school pupils attain to a satisfactory fluency 
in expression, and even the poor results in spelling of which 
the so-called modern school is accused are largely due to the 
fact that our children have too little chance for using the 
words in compositions of their own. Mechanical spelling 
exercises are a miserable surrogate for free application of the 
proper terms for self-expression. 

There is need of caution, however. What is true in regard 
to other potential activities of the child, is also true of his 
expression. We must carefully avoid forcing it before its 
time. Expression, like every other faculty, is a growth, and 
premature stimulation will either produce nervous strain or 
empty babbling. In either case, the natural growths will be 



♦"Toys and Games for Children among the Ancient Hel- 
lenes," Amer. Phys. Educ. Rev., Sept., 1898. 



2 3 2 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

arrested or perverted. First of all, children must take in a 
wealth of impressions. They cannot readily convert these 
into communicable form. The young child is mainly recep- 
tive, and quite fragmentary and stumbling in expression. He 
cannot say all he knows or feels, or say it in a form which 
would correspond to an adult standard. His thoughts, and 
his sentences, lack perspective as conspicuously as do his draw- 
ings, and he records things quite out of natural proportion 
and relation. 

We may forgive children their stammering way of expres- 
sion the more readily, the more clearly we recognize the often 
insurmountable difficulties which even adults undergo in try- 
ing to give utterance to their thoughts. Our deepest feelings, 
notably those of a religious character, are really incommuni- 
cable, because more or less formless, not for the reason that 
they are below the level of rational definition, but that they 
are above it, — transcendent, metaphysical. In speaking of 
them, we are forced to employ conventional symbols which 
are quite ambiguous, and mean different things to different 
people. Thus, the terms "God," "Nature," "destiny," "im- 
mortality," etc., will forever remain indefinite, and therefore, 
unfortunately, a source of contentions among fanaticists. 

The reader is referred back to what has been said in the 
foregoing chapter on oral work to precede work in reading 
and writing. We may well style this period in the child's 
development as the oral age. Likewise, as in reading, oral 
work should precede written work in composition. It is inter- 
esting to note how even adults, especially those who have 
comparatively little practice in writing, have a certain horror 
of the blank page which they are supposed to fill with expres- 
sions of their own mind; how even practiced poetasters will 
often rack their imagination to find the first word or line with 
which to break the horrid white monotony of the empty sheet 
of paper. This horror of the blank page is quite pronounced 
in the case of the child who is bidden to write a composition. 
But if he has gained practise in oral expression and learns 
that a written composition is nothing but a putting down in 
record-form of what he has previously expressed by word of 
mouth, this horror will be minimized. The child may be asked 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 233 

to reproduce the stories he was told, by telling them back 
to the teacher, or to the class; judicious questions will elicit 
from him statements as to his experiences, at home, in the 
street, in school, in manual work, etc. Thus the child may 
be led to express himself freely, and connectedly, on what 
he has done, seen, heard, enjoyed, etc. 

Details may be gathered up, the making of successive state- 
ments should be constantly encouraged, and gradually, the 
idea of the relation of one to the other statement can be de- 
veloped. At first, all statements seem co-ordinate: the child 
strings them up, using invariably the conjunction "and". 
Then comes a realization of the subordinate elements, and 
other conjunctions, relative phrases, and the like are slowly 
introduced. But this is a laborious process. Much practice 
must be given in this direction, and much patience and cau- 
tion needs to be exercised. 

A helpful practice is dictation by the children to the 
teacher. The teacher will then read aloud what the children 
have dictated, inviting amendments. This will arouse the 
children's desire to read their own statements. By putting 
these on the blackboard, or manifolding them on the type- 
writer, such opportunity can be provided ; this will be found 
a simple way of encouraging and simplifying exercises in read- 
ing. The children will of course more easily recognize their 
own sentences than they would foreign matter. Reading 
should precede writing; there is absolutely no need of en- 
forcing a copying of these statements by the children, or any 
writing exercises whatsoever, at this stage; indeed, writing 
may for some time continue to be hieroglyphic, even after 
reading has already commenced to appreciate alphabetical 
elements. 

In the gradual transition to genuine written work, letters 
will probably commend themselves as the first form of this, 
as they are in the nature of a personal effusion, containing 
personal elements in author and addressee. In fact, letters, 
communications, offer the first incentive to writing. 

It is essential that clear oral and written statements ac- 
company all work in school. "Kein Tag ohne eine Zeile!" 
(no day without a line) was the suggestive maxim of an old 



234 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

German teacher. 

It does, however, not impress me as imperative to insist 
pedantically on complete sentences in every instance, es- 
pecially not when such statement would be merely a repetition 
of the teacher's question in affirmative or negative form. Yet 
constant insistence upon good language is absolutely necessary. 
In doing this, be gentle and suggestive rather than nagging 
and pedantic. Some apparently incorrect expressions used by 
children, even certain slang forms, altho they appear antagon- 
istic to adult refinement, have peculiar force. And it is not 
well to substitute forever conventional phraseology for the 
spontaneous ebullitions of childhood, crude and uncouth as 
they may seem. Primitive thought needs a primitive dress. 
An Indian in a stovepipe is an absurdity. 

Rather than to discourage the children by too much criti- 
cism, set the good example in your own speech, for more or 
less unconscious absorption by the pupils. Teachers are in 
this respect, unfortunately, not above reproach, by any means. 
Mr. Percival Chubb is authority for the fact that many 
of the teachers in New York City use bad English habitually. 

With discreet guidance, children will grow in mastery of 
language. No doubt there are drawbacks. The home and 
street environment of the child may quickly destroy what the 
teacher has builded with patient toil. Little can be done in 
this respect, and the teacher must be satisfied with the self- 
effacing consciousness of having done his best — unless he gain 
an influence over home and community by co-ordinating all 
educational factors in a harmonious way. 

At any rate, he may console himself with the reflection that 
after all it is the thought, and not the form, which is the 
principal thing. Work for the thought, and accept individual 
forms of expression be they ever so unconventional. Even 
tho germanisms and slang forms and idiomatic crudities may 
abound : as long as there is evidence of some careful, rational 
thinking and organized argument, let it pass without 
struggling against the inevitable. And even where the home 
and street conditions are most favorable, we shall have to 
accept many a deviation from conventional modes, and shall 
have to exercise discretion in correcting the children's speech. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 235 

Patience there must be above all things ; and by being encour- 
aged in good reading the children will gradually learn to use 
passably good form. Says Samuel Thurber: 

"It is of no use to correct young children's work in detail. 
Why should not the boy or girl be allowed to write in the 
boyish or girlish way, as well as to speak in the boyish or girl- 
ish voice, or to move, to sing, to dance, in the boyish or 
girlish way? The pedant corrects young compositions into 
mature molds — a ridiculous and useless labor. You will 
distinguish between things positive, like spelling, which are 
distinctly right or wrong, and things relative and elastic, like 
the choice of words and phrases, which are good or bad ac- 
cording to season and place. . . . By correcting too much 
you may easily check spontaneity." 

And Prof. Earl Barnes comments as follows on a little 
girl's letter: 

"The girl is letting her soul shine out. If she knew that 
she should find in her mother a critic of spelling, punctuation, 
and grammar, she could not write in this way. . . . The 
arts of expression are mastered only by expressing, and in each 
of them one must pass thru a period of blundering before he 
comes out into the field of perfect mastery. . . . The 
pedagog can help most by providing incentive and then by 
keeping out of the way. His aid must come, here a little and 
there a little — but never so as to attract attention from the 
doing to the form. . . . We spend our days teaching a 
child how to write "rite" right, and thereby destroy his abil- 
ity to grow by going out thru expression." 

In order to train the children in doing justice to tasks in 
composition, they must be given exercises in finding, and in 
arranging, the material. Finding the material is easy enough 
for him who knows how to use reference books, indexes, lists, 
and bibliographies; who has learnt to skim over many pages 
and select what is helpful and essential; who is master over 
his own stock of stored up knowledge, and who has trained 
himself to find on short notice in the storehouse of his own 
mind the impressions and thoughts needful for a present dis- 
cussion. He who is orderly in his mental possessions, will 
be ready at any time to lay his grasp on the wanted material. 



236 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

But the child has to slowly acquire these habits and to develop 
these faculities, and it is our office as teachers of composition 
to assist him in this habituation and training. 

Arranging the material is practically identical with finding 
it ; for unless there is a well-conceived logical order of the sub- 
ject in hand, in our mind, we shall never succeed in discover- 
ing suitable material; or perhaps it is more correct to say, 
finding and arranging are mutually subservient, — the one 
process helps the other. Of little children whose experience 
is fragmentary and whose thinking is incoherent and unre- 
lated, we cannot expect a proper arrangement of argument. 
The faculty of arranging thoughts in a rational sequence will 
grow with increasing maturity. We may help this develop- 
ment by tabulating in an orderly manner our daily lessons 
so that the children will get into the habit of storing up their 
knowledge in organized groups. 

To secure unity and continuity in composition, let us re- 
member, and impress it upon our pupils, that an essay, or 
book, must express virtually one thought, not a promiscuous 
bundle of thoughts. This one thought may be subdivided, or 
made to rest on a host of subordinated thoughts ; but the aim 
must always be to elucidate the one main idea. A composi- 
tion should express one idea, as does an architectural creation, 
or a painting, or a drama; and unless this is brought out in 
clear shape, the composition is a failure. The main thought 
must never be lost in a jungle and wilderness of accessory 
ideas. Of a composition, much more truly than of a mere 
sentence, can it be said that it expresses a complete thought. 
It is always in the nature of a logical syllogism: there must 
be premises and a conclusion. There must be a fitting in- 
troduction, a body of substantial argument, well articulated 
and organized, and the inference from all the foregoing must 
crown the effort. 

It is beneficial to accompany these exercises with a study of 
examples of good arrangement and style, from literature. 
Even mere reproductions from memory are helpful, as they 
will illustrate, and clinch, the idea of sequence of thought. 
Reports on books read, in school or at home, following chap- 
ter after chapter; and reports on supplementary information 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 237 

to assist in school work, all these will contribute to the same 
end, viz., the appreciation of proper sequence, and the train- 
ing in suitable, logical arrangement of the subject matter. 

The study of proper forms of expression will be enhanced 
by experiments in altering expressions in masterpieces of style, 
to discover whether they may be improved upon, and if not, 
as will be found to be the case in the great majority of in- 
stances — why not. The study of good literature generally 
will have a purifying effect upon juvenile style. But let us 
present to our pupils specimens of different styles rather than 
dwell too long on a few selected authors lest they conform 
their mode of expression too slavishly and conventionally to 
some one of these, accepting and imitating his mannerisms 
no less than his elegancies, and sacrificing their own indi- 
viduality. 

The selection of themes ought to present no difficulties. 
The daily experience of the pupils offers boundless opportun- 
ity for work in composition. Only let us be careful not to 
overreach the children's ability. Even high school topics are 
often too old, requiring more mature thought and more com- 
prehensive experience than adolescent boys and girls can possi- 
bly command. 

The subjects of compositions, in the same way as the form 
of treatment, must be allowed to accord with the successive 
interests of the children. The culture epochs are dominant 
in this branch as they are in reading, and practically in all 
branches of school instruction. This regard for the native 
developmental interests of the children will also prevent us 
from forcing absolutely the same subject upon all children, 
and will induce us to provide for individual selection. Not 
every pupil will approach a subject with the same degree of 
eagerness and native talent. And altho it would be proper 
to give from time to time such class exercises as will afford 
needful training to all alike, we should strive to secure class 
results by the co-operation of the individuals composing the 
class, each working within his own sphere, and exchanging 
results with all others, much rather than by forcing all into 
the same narrow groove. 

Of composition exercises, there are two kinds. 



238 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

First, STATEMENTS OF FACTS. Here, the power 
of observation, and of giving an account of what has been ob- 
served, comes into play. To require such statements, involves 
a training of the judgment. 

"For training of the judgment, it is of course necessary that 
the perceptions be first educated. . . . Judgment con- 
sists essentially in comparison, and it is consequently by com- 
parison that we must train this faculty. . . . The train- 
ing of the judgment must naturally begin by a comparison of 
objects with which the child is familiar, and in which he takes 
some interest. In fact, the more they interest him, the more 
profitable the lessons will be. After some experience with 
familiar objects, unfamiliar or abstract ones may be taken, 
their difficulty increasing by regular gradations until we 
come to such complex cases as the relative goodness or badness 
of some supposed action. By such steps it will be found an 
easy matter to give almost any child a sound judgment."* 

Statements of facts may be demanded in connection with 
the concrete experiences of the child — his home and school 
life — observations in reference to science and geography — ex- 
periments — studies in history — manual and art work, etc. 
To this class belong also those clear-cut lines of argument 
which are based on facts, and are deductions from facts. 
These statements exclude largely the personal element, at 
least in a measure, and a certain degree of objectivity of view 
can be insisted upon. Yet, in all combinations of facts, the 
creative and imaginative faculities come into play. Even in 
mere statements, the personal equation cannot be altogether 
excluded, as all facts have first to become internalized, sub- 
jectified, before they can become possessions of our mind. 

In matters of conclusions and demonstrations, the personal 
equation often becomes decisive. What may be true and con- 
vincing to me, need not be so to you. This is a matter of in- 
dividual constitution and attitude. We must respect the same 
in our children. 



♦Clement Fezandie, "Mental Education," School Jrl., Oct. 6, 
1894- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 239 

Thus we have, as the second class: 

CREATIVE AND IMAGINATIVE WORK in com- 
position. The psychological basis for this is elucidated in the 
following extract from the proceedings of the Illinois Society 
for Child Study, 1899, ("Imagination and Education") : 

It is not simply the image-'maxion involved in perception 
and memory, but it is most solidly based upon this. Indeed, 
at first the images are brought into consciousness as memories 
of what has been experienced thru the action of the senses. 
Repeated reproductions of this kind, with little emphasis upon 
the time and place in which the original sense-experiences 
were gained, tend to free these memory images from their 
connection with real material — to give them a purely ideal 
existence, and thus prepare them for new combinations. 
Thereupon, interest transforms these released images into 
novel and hitherto unexperienced products. Some of these 
products are images of actual material existence. Others have 
an ideal existence only. Such images as these, the results of 
this dissociative and recombining process carried on without 
any unusual or phenomenal emotional activity, constitute a 
very large part of the 'mind-stuff' of the ordinary mortal. 
These images, to an inconceivably greater degree than the 
pure memory images in which they had their origin, constitute 
the 'stock in trade' in the fundamental part of all educative 
effort." 

The final outgrowth of this kind of work would be genuine 
fancy, which, when normally developed, wholesome, and in 
accord with the natural instincts of the race, produces poetic 
conceptions ; but when morbid or abnormal in some way, will 
degenerate into fallacies t delusions, and insanity. Here, dis- 
creet guidance is most needed. 

We should, however, recognize that, by younger children, 
fact and fancy are yet undistinguished. They live in a world 
little explored by experience, and largely imaginary. They 
are apt to project their own personality unhesitatingly into 
the objects around them. They play with imaginary com- 
panions as readily as with wooden dolls which they endow 
with the semblance of life. In his very instructive study on 



2 4 o THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

the early sense of self, President Stanley Hall* gives these 
valuable hints: 

"The dramatic passion is almost universal with children. 
They personate all kinds of people, and imitate even defects. 
. . . It seems as if children sometimes hate to have or be 
a self; felt that personality was not essence but phenomenon, 
and before they attain the virtue of unfolding what is 
peculiar to self, strove to develop what is common to all the 
species ; feel reluctance to be merely a specimen of a type, and 
experience a touch of the sublime indifference of nature and 
of philosophy. ... In their plays children even become 
a post, street-lamp, rock, chair, mirror, table, tree, etc. . . 
A girl of six passionately felt that she could and would not 
be herself; because it was too dreadful. . . . Girls fre- 
quently wish to be boys, and often expect to be when they 
grow older, or fear they may become boys. Others fear at 
night that they will wake up someone else in the morning. 
. These phenomena are hard to interpret, but suggest 
that childhood is generic and full of promise and potency of 
many kinds of personality and consciousness before the shades 
of the prison-house close in upon it. (There is) 

a longing for the broadest possible basis of experience and to 
touch life at every possible point, even if it be vicariously." 

This longing, and the capacity for vicarious experience 
should be made use of in composition work. And, with the 
proper direction on the part of the teacher, it will serve to 
strengthen the child's consciousness of self, to widen his hori- 
zon, to direct his gaze upon the ideal, to broaden his selfish 
instincts to embrace the destiny of the race. 

Composition is a means of self-expression, no doubt. But 
in every attempt at doing this, the child will become more 
conscious of his limitations the older he grows, and the less 
fancy supplies what his own circumscribed experience and 
personality cannot. Composition, therefore, is also a means 
of self-knowledge and self-control. It teaches the child how 
vast is the material from which he may draw; how small an 
amount thereof he can make serviceable to himself; how im- 



*Amer. Jrl. of Psych., IX, 3. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 241 

perative is proper care in selection, and how insignificant and 
needful of adjustment is his own individual opinion. He 
will, at least may or ought to, realize that not every problem 
which he undertakes to grapple with, is capable of ready so- 
lution thru his individual effort, and that he must be satisfied 
with an honest searching after truth, and with contributing 
his mite towards making a later solution approachable — that 
all he may do is to establish more clearly in his own mind the 
principles, logical and ethical, upon which all rational ma- 
turity rests, and become more and more conscious of true 
composition being a difficult art — one of the many ways by 
which a thought, an idea, an ideal, can be crystal ized, and 
for which each individual has a different aptitude. "The con- 
scious utterance of thought by speech or action, to any end, 
is art," says Emerson. And Holland has this thought in his 
essay on "Art and Life" : "The temple of art is built of words. 
Painting and sculpture and music are but the blazen of its 
windows borrowing all ther significance from the light, and 
suggestive only of the temple's uses." 

The closing words for this chapter may be quoted from 
Bulwer Lytton: "Art in fact is the effort of man to express 
the ideas which Nature suggests to him of a power above 
Nature, whether that power be within the recesses of his own 
being, or in the Great First Cause of which Nature, like him- 
self, is but the effect." 

The true artist, however, is the most humble of men. 



CHAPTER XV 

Grading and Promotion 

THE traditional grades, with their system of pro- 
motions according to stereotyped rules, are incon- 
sistent with the natural development of the child. 
This has been very strongly urged long ago by 
Prof. W. S. Jackson, in his article, "The School 
Grade a Fiction." Said he, among other things: 

"It is evident that the fundamental thing in the concep- 
tion of a school grade, as at present recognized, is an arbitrary 
unit of time. . . . 

"So far, all attempts made to prepare a course of study 
close fitting to each grade have ended in disappointment. . . . 
"It is certainly open to question whether skill should be 
taken into serious account at all in establishing grades. Skill 
is a variable quantity with the same pupil in different sub- 
jects." 

The evils of the present system have long been recognized 
by observing teachers, but it has been found signally difficult 
to solve the problem of how to re-adjust matters. In mass- 
instruction, there is need of some system of grouping the 
pupils; and as there is everywhere a tendency to be economi- 
cal as to the number of teachers employed, the breaking up of 
the mass into small groups has been found inconvenient. The 
greatest obstacle, however, has always been the routine stand- 
ard of proficiency forced upon the pupils, and the unelastic 
character of the courses of instruction. 

Many attempts have been made to individualize and to 
promote within the grades. The grades have been subdivided 
into divisions, two or three in a grade. This works well in a 

242 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 243 

certain way, but means an additional burden to the teacher 
who has so many more recitations to hear. "Our children", 
says Julia Richman, "are so accustomed to giving close at- 
tention to the teacher that, when separated into groups, their 
minds invariably wander from their own tasks to listen to the 
instruction given to some other group." Then again, complete 
systems have been devised to give the "brighter" pupils the 
chance of advancing more rapidly than the slower ones. Presi- 
dent Elliot, of Harvard, and Superintendent Shearer, of 
Elizabeth, N. J., have developed and introduced plans of this 
kind. 

Miss Julia Richman describes what she calls a "successful 
experiment in promoting pupils," as made in Public School 
No. 77, New York. She placed the brighter pupils of one 
grade in a room by themselves, and the poorer ones also. 
Where there were enough pupils in one grade to warrant the 
establishment of more than two separate grade rooms, she 
divided them accordingly. Individual attention, advancement, 
and promotion, were thus secured. The objection that a plan 
like this were possible only in a large school is not very valid. 
There might be consolidations made of several grades from 
neighboring schools; and then, by stretching the idea of 
"grade", it would be feasible to put the "bright" pupils of 
two or more grades into one group by themselves and to ad- 
just the course of study accordingly, expecting that they 
would cover the ground in less time, while the slower ones 
would be given proportionately more time. All this can be 
accomplished in some way, as long as the purpose of the 
school is considered to be mainly the imparting of knowledge, 
the giving of information. Some, the so-called brighter 
pupils, will absorb this more quickly than others. The mere 
information school will permit of plans like this: Out of a 
class of 228 pupils completing eighth grade work in Seattle 
on the once famous "Shearer plan" i. e., promoting any day 
when the pupil is fitted, thirty-one did it in six years, seventy- 
eight in seven years, seventy in eight years, nineteen in nine 
years, eight in ten years, and two in eleven years.* 



♦Quoted in Child Study Monthly, Sept., 1808. 



244 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

There are, however, serious objections to this plan. The 
practice of allowing the "bright" ones to proceed at break- 
neck speed, may do them more injury than good. Our ordi- 
nary school education is hot-bed culture at best, a driving of 
children along the path of adult-invented systems and stand- 
ards into nervous collapse and depletion. Surely, we may 
succeed in stuffing some of our pupils with facts and rules 
and definitions and names and dates at an increasingly higher 
rate of speed, and in graduating them a year or two earlier, 
so that we shall finally promote to our high schools children 
who have hardly entered their teens, and on to college boys 
in knee-pants, and girls in short skirts and long braids. But 
that would be a generation of neurotics, of precocious im- 
beciles and blase fools, — such ones as are sometimes intro- 
duced to the readers of funny papers as "genuine Bostonians" 
who play with the differential calculus at an age when nor- 
mal children play with dolls and building blocks. 

What sort of children do we call "bright", after all? 
"Bright" is an ambiguous term. It may mean a retentive 
memory which absorbs quickly like a sponge and may as easily 
be squeezed empty. Or it may be applied to the ready talker 
who can make much ado about nothing and dazzle us with 
the eloquence of empty phrases. Or "bright" may be taken 
to be synonomous with "quick" referring to the shorter re- 
action time of such individuals. It is a well known fact in 
physics that some liquids boil at a lower temperature 
than others. Likewise, some individuals respond more 
quickly to excitations than others. But the term "bright" 
is surely not in every case identical with "mature." And is 
not maturity the thing we strive for ? 

Under the caption, "Speed as an Element of Weakness," 
Dr. M. W. Van Denburg has contributed an investigation, 
which he introduces by the scriptural quotation, "The race is 
not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; . . . 
nor yet favor to men of skill ; but time and chance happen- 
ed! to them all." Among other things, he says this in the 
course of his argument: 

"If Charles Darwin were a pupil in one of our public 
schools to-day, the chances are nine out of ten, that he would 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 245 

be set down as a very commonplace, dull boy. His mind 
always moved slowly and with extreme caution from his 
earliest school days. This was his individual constitution. 

"If John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer were two boys 
in the same grade, Mill, who would be several years younger 
than Spencer — and who for a moment doubts that the bril- 
liant, ready, quick-witted Mill would far outstrip the shy, 
nervous, plodding Spencer: the one would become a petted 
little pedant, and the other would be plunged into the deep- 
est discouragement. These are not altogether fancy 
sketches. . . . 

"Nothing is more certain in psychology than the vast dif- 
ference in the rate of speed at which different minds work. 
This is not all a habit by any means. It is to a far greater 
degree an endowment.* 

"Suppose in public examinations as much time was given 
as is desired by each applicant, and thereby quiet of mind on 
this point assured. Suppose in school work the difference 
in natural endowment, in physical energy, in physical health, 
in previous training, in home training, and, above all, the 
natural gait of the mind were taken into account in each case. 
Suppose accuracy, and reliability, and completeness of grasp 
and sincerity of purpose were put in their proper places in 
estimating the value of work accomplished, the Darwins 
would not then always be set down as dunces, neither would 
the Mills so enormously out-rank the Spencers."* 

There is, as has been shown in a previous chapter, a phy- 
sical basis for precocity and dullness. Prof. W. Townsend 
Porter has shown that the more successful pupils are taller 
as well as heavier than dull children, that they have larger 



*Stanley Hall speaks in this respect of the "individual rhythm." 
G. 

*It may be interesting to consult in this connection what the 
author of this volume has said about the system of valuing, 
grading, and promoting pupils as worked out by him in the 
Ethical Culture Schools of New York, and set forth in his 
little book, "A Working System of Child Study for Schools," 
Bardeen, Syracuse, 1897. 



246 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

chests, and greater width of heads. He recommends that 
grading be based rather upon height and weight, i. e., on a 
determination of the physical development of the individual, 
than upon his age or accomplishments. His tables also prove 
that the children approaching the average weight of their 
age are found at least one grade lower than our artificial 
system of grading would have it. Thus, the seven year old 
child of average weight (47.73 lbs.) is found in the first 
grade, not in the second. Those children of seven, who 
have reached the second grade, are above the average weight. 
The boy of average weight, 10 years old, is in the third 
grade; of 12 years, in the fourth; while at puberty, there 
are great variations. 

All this proves that real success and progress is a matter of 
biological development whereby mental and physical pro- 
cesses are intimately related. In other words, instead of 
mistaking one-sided brilliancy for an evidence of satisfactory 
progress, we should consider progress largely as a process of 
maturing. It is power, not information and examinable 
knowledge, by which we must gauge a child's fitness for 
higher tasks. 

The culture epoch theory as set forth in previous chapters 
will be a safer guide for a rational system of grading than 
anything else. We have seen that there are distinct devel- 
opmental stages in the life of a child, and that these do not 
closely correspond to average ages, at any rate that they do 
not follow each other in annual progression. Some are longer 
and some are shorter. It would, therefore, seem to be the 
simplest plan to establish groups in accordance with these 
natural periods. May be that this will be the outcome of 
the present confusion when once we shall be better able to 
apply psychological criteria to the daily practice of the school 
room. It is obvious that there is one main difficulty in the 
way of such an arrangement, viz. the fact that not any two 
children pass thru these developmental stages in exactly the 
same way, at the same age, or at the same rate of speed. The 
school groups would therefore never be thoroly homogeneous 
— there will forever be a need of continuous re-adjustment 
and individualization even under the most perfect system. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 247 

The difficulty will be largely overcome when we have an 
elastic and rational course of instruction, arranged in con- 
centric circles, where information is insisted upon only to the 
limit of actual necessity; when due care is taken to recognize 
individual talents and powers; when there can be instan- 
taneous adjustment and readjustment to the varying needs 
of individual groups. It is the author's opinion that a system 
of special teachers would often be better suited for such re-ad- 
justments than the one-sided class-teacher system. The special 
teacher has the larger perspective of his work in various 
parallel and successive groups of pupils; and can therefore 
fit it better to these various needs, keeping his final aim 
steadily in view. 

While we need not at once give up the grade system, 
adapting it gradually to our increasing enlightenment con- 
cerning the problem under discussion, we may even now 
supplement it by the establishment of ungraded classes which 
can be considered as the safety-valves of the system. Here 
may be placed, under the direction of particularly well-qual- 
ified teachers, those children who for one reason or another 
cannot keep pace with mass, and where they may be re-ad- 
justed, or for that matter, receive individual attention. Such 
ungraded classes will prove particularly welcome where there 
are older pupils entering the school whose maturity is well 
advanced while they may need some coaching in rudimen- 
tary arts. Again, ungraded classes will be found helpful in 
the treatment of mildly atypical children. There may even 
be special classes for precocious pupils, where they would 
receive an educational treatment suited to their needs. For 
even they may be considered as atypical. 

These considerations will throw light on the problem of 
promotions, and the principles upon which they should be 
based. Heretofore, and in fact up to the present day, exam- 
inations and percentage marks have been the main, or only 
means for determining promotion lists. Originally, examina- 
tions, held at the end of the grade term, were the exclusive 
criterion. When the viciousness of this system began to be 
recognized, promotion was based upon a combination of 
daily marks and examination records. Or, to mitigate the 



248 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

evils of the chance results of the one "examination for pro- 
motion," there were instituted series of tests, or a multiplicity 
of examinations in the course of a term, the average of which 
was then taken. Of course, these examinations were fit 
merely to test the capacity of the pupil to absorb, and repro- 
duce, information; and the substitution of many tests for 
one final examination meant as much as driving the devil 
out by means of Be-elzebub. According to Dr. Sturgis, 
among the incidents of school life apt to be injurious and 
productive of chorea, there stand out prominently (i) writ- 
ten examinations; (2) moving into higher classes.* 

The question of examinations as tests of fitness, and of 
their effect upon the pupils, is so serious a one that the au- 
thor may be permitted to quote further from authoritative 
sources, so as to elucidate the situation. An examination 
has been called a "periodical inspection of results", "a kind of 
intellectual dress parade." It is claimed that such a day 
of reckoning is needed as otherwise the pupil, following the 
line of least resistance, would never make an effort to con- 
centrate his thoughts and organize the results of his daily 
study. The pupil, in an examination, is required to be 
ready for the occasion, to have perfect command of his re- 
sources, to meet a crisis, to be willing to submit his work 
and his character, as shown in his work, to the most search- 
ing scrutiny. In this way, an examination resembles the 
trials of life, so that, even tho it may cause difficulty and 
suffering, it has its inestimable value even to the school 
child for the purpose of character training. 

The question may arise whether, what may perhaps be 
well suited to the age of college and university students, 
would be equally adapted to the nature and needs of ele- 
mentary children. 

Prof. Friedrich Paulsen, of Berlin, recognizes the value 
of school examinations proper, those which arise entirely out 
of the exigencies of the instruction and have purely didac- 
tic ends. But against all other kinds, including examinations 



*Cf. Will S. Monroe, "Chorea among Public School Children," 
Amer. Phys. Educ. Rev., Ill, 1. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 249 

for positions, he raises grave objections. Among these are: 
1. The examination changes the mental attitude of the stu- 
dent to the subject. The prospect of being examined neces- 
sarily turns his attention from the subject-matter itself and 
fixes it upon the examination; it therefore takes on a more 
external meaning. ... 2. The examination gives to 
previous study a tendency to be superficial and directed to 
what lends itself to recitation. The knowledge that can be 
"shown off" counts for the most. . . . 3. In all exam- 
inations the most successful are those who come to them 
without strong tendencies or gifts in any direction, but who 
tread the even path of mediocrity, whereas natures with un- 
mistakable and decided originality and special talents often 
suffer under them. 

"Why," says "the shade of Socrates," in an interview with 
Wm. Hawley Smith,* "I have been shocked beyond measure, 
a thousand times, as I have seen your young men and maid- 
ens go thru the process of what they call 'cramming for ex- 
aminations.' For a few days before the test of their attain- 
ments they pore over their books, filling themselves with 
words, even as a toad fills herself with wind, till it would 
seem that the addition of another iota would burst them. 
And then they sit down and write for an hour, using what 
of the pent-up matter within them they may be able to com- 
mand, in their present distended condition; after which, the 
ordeal over, they open the safety valve of forgetfulness, and 
in a week after they are as lank and flabby on the subject, 
and as unable to stand alone and say their say regarding it, 
as an empty meal sack is without ability to erect itself, and 
out of its nothingness to fill the bin." 

On the score of the physical dangers, we should be re- 
minded that the school girl is one of the most unfortunate 
victims of the pernicious system, and that examinations are 
often responsible for lasting menstrual disorders. Just at 
the time when the pubescent girl should be free from the 
cramped conditions of the school room, she is subjected to the 
trials of the grammar grades, with a daily strain of studies 



*Educ. Rev., March, 1897. 



250 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

and tests. Examinations are threatening and harassing her 
mind at periods when she should have rest and should not 
worry. The anticipation of possible failure is working mis- 
chief of the most unpardonable kind. For the menstruating 
school girl of pubescent years is apt to be emotionally over- 
strung, and to be given to hysterical exaltation, both upward 
and downward — towards exultation as well as towards mel- 
ancholia. The "blues" are a distinct functional disease. And 
on the very day of the examination, there are always many 
girls in every class or school who are at a decided disadvan- 
tage. 

A teacher meeting a pupil who had taken a Bryn Mawr 
examination in algebra the day before, asked to see the paper, 
and inquired what she had done. "Why did you leave 
out this problem" said the teacher. The pupil said that 
it had looked puzzling to her. "Try it", said 
the teacher. In five minutes the young girl had 
solved it correctly, and had written it out neatly. 
For want of that cool five minutes, she failed in her exam- 
ination, and had to study algebra another year. 

Of course some may claim that, examinations being a test 
of character, and approximating the actual experiences of 
life, this result is perfectly legitimate. But we may reply to 
this that after all, it was not the girl's presence of mind, but 
her algebra, that was being examined, and that for a defi- 
ciency of character the punishment, to make her study alge- 
bra another year, knowing it well enough as she did, is ab- 
surd, to say the least. Forcing a student to go over the 
same ground again is justifiable only when the proof of 
lack of mastery is given. 

Of the injustice, deceptiveness, and viciousness of the 
marking system, especially in percentages, much has already 
been said. It will never enable us to size up a child's pro- 
gress adequately and fairly, and it establishes a false incentive 
for the child. 

As soon as we realize that the proper test for promotion 
has reference to general maturity, we shall understand that 
neither examinations nor marks will serve as a safe basis, 
that these are, at best, merely accessories. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 251 

Deficiency in one, or even several subjects should never 
be taken as a cause for holding a pupil back unless there is 
very unmistakable evidence of general immaturity. Let us 
remember that there are distinctly different types of chil- 
dren. Will you prevent a non-mathematical child from go- 
ing on in language, geography, history, art and science be- 
cause he is weak in computation ? Or must the constitutional 
bad speller be prohibited from grappling with mathematical 
and scientific problems that would rouse forth his intensest 
interest and native genius, for the reason that he cannot 
readily recognize a bare bear or a fair fare ? Mere repetition 
is unprofitable under most circumstances; it is usually better 
to provide for new opportunities of applying the unmastered 
art ; these new opportunities will bring about new revelations 
and call forth fresh effort. And have we never heard of 
unexpected awakenings? 

Holding back a child in a lower class means to tie him 
to interests which he has outgrown. It is as a rule much 
wiser to trust to his ability to go on with his class to higher 
work than to keep him back. He may grow with the de- 
mands made upon him ; only when discovered to be a failure 
in the next class should he be placed — not necessarily back 
into the previous grade, but into an ungraded class where his 
special deficiency may receive proper attention while he will 
do the work of his class in all those branches which he has 
mastered sufficiently. Should it become evident that in cer- 
tain things he can make no noticeable progress at the time, 
teachers ought not to worry, but simply leave him alone. 
This may sound heretic from the standpoint of the tradi- 
tional school, but is surely just in regard to the needs of the 
individual. We cannot make every one conform to a com- 
mon standard. 

There are, as we know, maximum and minimum periods 
in the life of every child. An apparent falling back, dullness, 
or arrest of development may be due to a minimum activity 
at the time being. With such children we must have pa- 
tience. The dull spell may not last long — there may be a 
process of unconscious adjustment going on within which 
will make him blossom out in the next grade so as to sur- 



252 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

prise us, especially when we allow him to develop along 
the lines of his special capacities and interests. In winter, 
the trees and plants are seemingly asleep. Will you force 
their foliage and blossoms before Spring touches them with 
his magic wand? 

It has been said to be a common experience among tele- 
graph operators that when they first learn their profession 
there will come a period when they will make apparently no 
progress at all, when everything seems difficult, desperately 
so, and their professional education seems to have come to a 
standstill. But all of a sudden, the veil will be lifted, as 
it were, and they will at once not only regain their former 
skill, but really achieve proficiency. During the "dead per- 
iod," there had been going on subconscious adjustments, 
which used up all the mental energy, and, being once per- 
fected, produced a sudden awakening to conscious mastery. 

On the effect of non-promotion upon the pupils, Miss Ju- 
lia Richman (quoted before) says this: 

"The children who are not promoted are known as 'hold- 
overs.' A 'hold-over' who has missed a promotion because of 
illness, change of school, absence of the teacher, or any other 
reason for which the child is not personally responsible, occa- 
sionally makes a creditable record during the second term 
in the grade; but usually the unpromoted remnant will in- 
clude the dull child, the careless or inattentive child, the 
child who lacks the proper foundation, and the child whose 
development has been arrested by some physical defect or re- 
tarded by faulty teaching. That the 'hold-overs' form the 
most undesirable material in the newly organized class is 
an inevitable result of this method of promotion; the incal- 
culable injury suffered by the individual 'hold-over' has long 
been recognized by the thoughtful observer." 

It is largely from the "hold-overs" that the class of chil- 
dren which are termed "troublesome" is recruited. In a dis- 
cussion of the troublesome child in school, before the Kan- 
sas Society for Child Study, 1898, Supt. Glotfelder made 
these pertinent remarks : 

"In every case the child is older than the average in his 
grade, and sixteen of them (those that had come under his 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 253 

observation) are twelve years of age, or above. Every child 
mentioned has failed of promotion once or more. . . . 
Many of the terms used in describing these pupils' faults, are 
synonymous. Probably all these troublers could be classi- 
fied into three classes, the first and largest being the uninter- 
ested, those that from wide and various experience upon the 
streets, and in conversation and contact with those older 
than themselves, find the school exercises, planned for young- 
er minds than theirs, stale and irksome; another class would 
include those who have little or no power to concentrate 
their attention upon anything, and so wander from one thing 
to another, craving the companionship and conversation of 
those about them; the third class includes those actually an- 
tagonistic to the school, its discipline, its exercise, and all its 
requirements." 

As helps towards avoiding the opening up of too wide 
gulfs between the different types and groups of children, in 
matters of mere information, there have already been 
suggested a greater elasticity of the course of study, short 
divisions of the subject-matter, and principally the arrange- 
ment of the subject-matter in what has been called concen- 
tric circles, so that practically the same work, on different 
planes, will be done all along, with occasions for frequent 
repetition and re-inforcement, in careful adjustment to the 
successive stages of maturity, widening the horizon of the 
child at each step, taking in more and more comprehensive 
views, into greater depths of distance and abstraction. 

It is imperative, however, that all possible precautions be 
taken, by removing artificial standards, stimuli, and incen- 
tives, rewards and demerit marks, to establish the right con- 
ception of promotion in the minds of the pupils, and for that 
matter, of their parents. The very term "promotion" is mis- 
leading as it implies the idea of reward, while it should 
signify merely the idea of growth. Promotion should be 
considered as a reward as little, as non-promotion should 
mean a punishment or disgrace. 

It may be contended that the philosophy of pace-making 
and competition has pointed to the ambition to excel, not to 
be beaten by others, as a powerful incentive to increased ek 



254 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

fort. Granting this, we may admit that competition for 
honors may have a beneficial effect in the race for knowledge 
of scholarship, when judiciously employed. There will, even 
under the most perfect system of grading and promotion, be 
enough margin for wholesome competition. But the primi- 
tive instinct to excel others so as to get ahead of them, should 
be early converted into an ethical force. It must be tem- 
pered with the desire to help the weak, and be transformed 
into an ambition to excel one's self. 

Pupils of equal maturity should be kept together even tho 
they may differ in matters of age, talent, information, skill, 
and accomplishments. Rather than making the gulf between 
them increasingly wider have them appreciate the value and 
beauty of co-operation and mutual helpfulness. The bond of 
fellowship will be found to be in the community of interests 
characteristic of their respective periods of development. 

The slow ones need the stimulus from the quicker ones; 
the quick ones need the clog afforded by their slower mates. 
The quick workers can be taxed more by extra work which 
will widen their experience and at the same time add to the 
sum total of the class work so that even the slower pupils 
may derive their share of benefit from the contributions of 
their more rapid comrades. 

Let us not forget that overstimulated precocity has to pay 
its penalty later on. Unless borne up by a powerful vitality 
such as may be found only in rare instances, real precocity is 
a curse which leads invariably to serious nervous tension and 
depletion. 

The lesson we may draw from all this is that we must indi- 
vidualize. The basis of rational grading and promotion is a 
better knowledge of the individual needs of our pupils. 



CHAPTER XVI 

Hygienic Suggestions 

THIS chapter is not to be devoted to the discussion 
of diseases and abnormal conditions, but rather 
to that of prophylactic hygienic measures. But at- 
tention should be called to the following points: 
First : There ought to be connected organically 
with every school a school physician, for the purpose not only 
of supervising the children so as to control the spread of con- 
tagious diseases, but also of giving general hygienic advice 
and direction, of assisting in the discovery of defectives of all 
kinds, and of being the teacher's assistant in every case where 
physical and mental abnormality require a comprehensive 
diagnosis. 

Perhaps the first institution where regular medical inspec- 
tions and examinations were provided for was the Working- 
man's School (later enlarged into the system of Ethical Cul- 
ture Schools) of New York, under the direction of the 
author. This dates back to the year 1891. Since that time a 
number of city systems have appointed a regular staff of phy- 
sicians, and their functions are becoming more and more 
clearly defined and organized. Everywhere the physicians 
have soon found opportunity for demonstrating the para- 
mount necessity of the work for which they have been de- 
tailed. In almost every instance of investigation, appalling 
conditions were discovered to exist, especially with regard 
to the exposure of the pupils to the spread of contagious dis- 
eases. 

Second: Every teacher, and especially every school princi- 
pal, should have training in the ready recognition of the or- 



256 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

dinary symptoms of the common children's diseases and of 
other physical danger signals. 

Third : There must be a strictly enforced system of regu- 
lating the attendance in the case of infectious and contagious 
disease. 

Fourth : All abnormal, defective and atypical children, in- 
cluding nervous children, stammerers and others with sug- 
gestive habits, should be removed from the ordinary school 
and taught in special classes or institutions. 

This article is especially concerned in such hygienic sugges- 
tions as will tend to make the school conditions normal for 
generally normal children. 

First in importance here is the location and equipment of 
the schoolhouse as such. There must be selected a location 
affording an abundance of light and air, freedom from ob- 
noxious noises and odors, inspiring and helpful views across 
the surrounding country, etc., etc. In a large city these con- 
ditions cannot always be fulfilled, and compromises more or 
less fraught with danger must be resorted to. Then there 
should be fireproof construction, convenient stairways and 
elevators, airy basements, perfect sanitary arrangements. All 
these are largely architectural problems and need not be elab- 
orated here. Suffice it to say that care must be taken to have 
the schoolhouse surrounded by ample and shaded playgrounds, 
with trees and shrubbery and flower beds, to afford outdoor 
recreation and exercise. Gymnastic apparatus for outdoor 
practice, and school gardens proper, ought to be provided ; 
and there ought also to be convenient places for kindergarten 
and primary work in the open air. Sand heaps, croquet, ten- 
nis, and other equipments for plays and games are valuable 
accessories. 

One point, however, ought to be emphasized. The mod- 
ern tendency to erect large central school buildings with 
many stories should be decidedly discouraged. The assem- 
bling of great numbers of pupils in one building increases the 
danger of exposure in case of contagious diseases. But the 
main objection to tall buildings is the stairways. There has 
been established a very distinct relation between heart disease 
and tall schoolhouses, and the climbing of stairs has often a 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 257 

very injurious effect upon pubescent girls. Smaller school- 
houses are therefore preferable. 

But the room, or rooms, in which the child spends so 
many of his waking hours, deman3 our particular attention. 
The first warning must be against overcrowding. In some 
schools, especially in large cities, this overcrowding assumes 
criminal proportions. Not to speak of the impossibility of 
individualizing instruction and discipline in an overcrowded 
room, the presence of too many children in one room vitiates 
the air, promotes disease, and produces generally unhygienic 
conditions. Thirty pupils — under especially favorable cir- 
cumstances, forty — to a teacher should be the extreme. If 
there could be groups of twenty, it would be better. Where 
there are more than twenty-five in a room, the teacher ought 
to have an assistant. 

The first requirement of a proper schoolroom is a sufficient 
amount of light and air space. The figures determining these 
factors can be found in any handbook on school hygiene. 
Ventilation, e. g., arrangements for drawing off the vitiated 
air and for supplying the room with a constant current of 
breathable, pure air, is even more important than an exact 
allowance of air space. Proper ventilation without produc- 
ing draft is a matter of engineering science. It is usually, 
and causally, connected with the maintenance of the proper 
temperature in the schoolroom. There is as yet hardly a 
system of heating invented which gives an even temperature 
all over the room ; usually those children who sit nearest the 
heating apparatus (be it stove, register, or radiator) are being 
boiled and driven frantic, while those who sit at a distance 
are chilled thru and thru on cold days. School life 
in winter is full of dangers; overheated rooms weaken the 
power of resistance to the effect of cold weather, and cold 
rooms lay the foundation for colds and bronchial troubles, 
digestive disturbances and the like. Yet we should remem- 
ber that children, whose respiratory functions are more rap- 
idly operative than ours, and who are moving about more 
energetically than we do, need less heat than adults. The 
temperature to be maintained has been fixed by the Buffalo 
Board of School Examiners in its seventh annual report as 



2 5 8 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

follows : In classrooms, with thermometer in center of room, 
68 degrees F. ; with thermometer on unexposed wall, 70 de- 
grees F. In halls, 62 degrees F. Observe and rely upon 
thermometers — do not rely upon personal feelings. 

It should be observed that care must be taken not to have 
the air in classrooms too dry; there must be the proper de- 
gree of humidity. Sometimes in bad weather there is too 
much of it, not only because of the general dampness of the 
atmosphere, but because the wet clothes of the children add 
a large share by evaporation in the warm room. Children 
should be made to take off wet shoes and stockings on com- 
ing to school; they should be instructed to bring extra gar- 
ments and shoes to school on wet days, so that they may 
change their wet raiment for dry. It is needless to repeat 
here that it is perniciously dangerous to children, or to 
grown people, to sit for hours in damp garments. Provision 
should be made to have a place in school where damp shoes, 
stockings, and other clothes can be dried. All wardrobes 
and cloak rooms should be ventilated with particular care. 
But we may even go a step farther. 

School washrooms with ample capacity to accommodate 
all the children with satisfactory promptness, and school baths 
with shower baths, tubs, and swimming tanks, will in time 
be common institutions in all schools. They have been 
widely introduced in many places, notably in France and 
Germany. They afford not only opportunities for cleansing, 
but also for healthful stimulation and exercise. A special 
article might be written on cleanliness of hands and fingers, 
particularly of the finger-nails; they are hotbeds of bacteria. 
But cleansing the bodies, where that is needed, does not 
suffice. The clothes of many children are sources of danger 
as well, apart from the disgusting odor that often emanates 
from them. Many change their underclothing but seldom, 
and their upper garments are worn, uncleaned and unaired, 
for long periods at a time, gathering dust and microbes and 
issuing the stuffy smell characteristic of neglected homes. As 
long as we cannot change these homes, it is a simple matter 
of self-protection to provide means in school for the proper 
cleansing of the children's garments, eventually even for 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 259 

furnishing them with temporary substitutes. But possibly 
the cleaning process of both persons and garments could go 
on simultaneously. 

There is further the adequate cleaning and disinfecting of 
the schoolrooms themselves, as well as of the utensils and ma- 
terials employed in the daily work of the school. One of the 
first counsels in this regard would be: Keep the dust out as 
far as possible, — not only by preventing the children (by 
proper arrangement for cleaning, brushing, and scraping) 
from carrying dirt and dust into the building on their shoes 
and in their clothing, but also by avoiding within the four 
walls of the building and the room all those things and 
practices which would cause, stir up, and re-distribute dust. 
Mark: every cubic centimeter of air in an ordinary room 
within the confines of a city contains 400,000 particles of 
dust. How many there may be in an ordinary schoolroom 
I do not know. Not only is there an ever-present danger 
from the admixture of micro-organisms, but these enormous 
clouds of dust clog our respiratory organs and stop up the 
pores of the skin. Use, then, as dustless a crayon as you can 
purchase on the market, and wash your blackboards with a 
wet sponge or rag instead of using those vicious erasers. 
Throw your sponge away after use, for few things are 
more effective as germ breeders than sponges and brooms. 
Wash your rags once a day, and do it well. Moist cloth, 
dipped in a solution of corrosive sublimate (bi-chlorate of 
mercury, 1 :3O0o) for disinfection, should be used daily for 
the cleansing of seats and desks, etc. Employ moist sawdust 
for sweeping the floors. Burn up all dusters and other hell- 
ish devices for raising and distributing dust under the pre- 
tense of cleaning. The windows should be washed once 
a week to secure the full benefit of the light supply for which 
they are intended ; and the walls need frequent cleansing and 
ought to be recalsomined annually, as this process also secures 
excellent disinfection. All schoolroom decoration should 
therefore be simple and inexpensive, so that it can be re- 
moved and renovated without undue expenditure and cha- 
grin. 

Attention must further be called to the dangers lurking 



260 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

in apparently innocent utensils and materials. Slates, apart 
from their bad effect on vision and handwriting, harbor 
countless colonies of microbes and bacilli. Soap and towels, 
when used in common by children ; likewise common drink- 
ing cups; pencils which are kept in common receptacles and 
exchanged; even the bits of chalk which wander from hand 
to hand, are carriers of infection. The same may be asserted 
of the books that are not individual property. Clay, espec- 
ially when kept moist and used over and over again too 
long, is particularly dangerous. Children should wash their 
hands carefully (with soap and some disinfectant) before 
and after using clay; in fact, by insisting upon scrupulous 
cleanliness of hands and face, much of the danger here re- 
ferred to may be obviated. Still better would it be if a suit- 
able system of disinfection at regular intervals would be in- 
augurated to supplement the measures for daily cleansing. In 
times of epidemics of any kind, even the seemingly most 
trivial, such disinfection should be undertaken daily after 
school hours. Formaldehyde (formic Aldehyde, CH2O), a 
gaseous body formed from methyl alcohol by oxidation, is a 
very effective and easily applied disinfectant which will 
even cleanse the utensils contained in the schoolroom in a 
satisfactory manner. It requires no special mention that all 
sanitary appliances, toilets, washbasins, and the like, must be 
kept absolutely clean and disinfected. 

One of the most effective destroyers of disease germs is 
sunlight. Abundance of light — pure, diffuse light — in all 
parts of the room is a pre-eminent requirement of schoolroom 
hygiene. As there is such an enormous difference between 
sunlight and artificial light, even if each desk were provided 
with a special lamp, care should be taken to preserve the eye- 
sight of growing boys and girls by having them work as much 
as feasible in daylight, and to warn them against the peril 
of working and reading under insufficient illumination. Let 
the light supply, be it repeated, always be plentiful, and 
available even in the farthest corner of the room. "The 
pupils sitting farthest from the windows naturally adopt the 
habit of holding the book nearer to their eyes when the light 
is dim, and in this way become nearsighted, and, thru sym- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 261 

pathy with the strain upon the eyes in study, the stomach be- 
comes disordered. Nervous dyspepsia and headaches abroad 
in the community owe their origin to some extent to this 
defect in school building. To bring about a proper distribu- 
tion of light, avoiding unpleasant and blinding reflection 
and glare, attention must be paid to the use of proper window 
shades, the tinting and finishing of walls and ceiling, the mat- 
glass and shades, the tinting and finishing of walls and ceil- 
ing, the matter of blackboards (which would be more profit- 
ably green boards), etc. The infalling natural light is, of 
course, greatly modified by the color of the room. Too much 
blackboard of the ordinary sort causes a great loss of light by 
absorption. Although there is some difference of opinion as to 
the best colors for wall decoration, it seems that the red end 
of the spectrum is less desirable for rooms in which fine work 
is demanded, as it absorbs too much of the infalling light. 
The lighter and more delicate shades of yellow and gray are 
recommended ; a light buff tint of dull surface is also good. 
The wood work should receive a coat of light paint harmoni- 
ous with the rest. 

The effect of a school room should be pleasing, bright, in- 
vigorating, inspiring. Tasteful combinations of color and 
decorative motives of a simple, restful kind; flowers on the 
window sills; greens and pictures on the walls and doors; 
here and there a bit of suggestive statuary ; specimens and col- 
lections of interest and value; and all-pervading, a home-like 
atmosphere, — these will make the room a positive power for 
good to pupils, and to the teacher as well. For what con- 
tributes to the healthy and inspiring influences of the place 
where we spend our working hours affects not only our physi- 
cal, but also our mental and moral status. 

Speaking of the requirements for keeping the visual ca- 
pacity of our children, as well as their nervous energy in gen- 
eral, intact, reference may be made to the hygiene of reading 
and writing, and fine work in general. "The implements we 
employ in our 'daily tasks,' " says O'Shea, "are responsible 
for much useless drain upon the nervous system, — such appar- 
ently simple and harmless things as writing pens, pencils, 
and the like. Co-ordination of the peripheral muscles in- 



262 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

volves a relatively larger expenditure of energy than coarser, 
less delicately adjusted movements. Thus, fine needle work 
is more fatiguing to most women than washing dishes, and 
'getting pigs out of clover' is a much greater strain on any 
man than playing golf or croquet." Let us be reminded of 
the proper size and body of type, length of line, size of page, 
etc. Glazed paper to read from is much more injurious than 
dull paper, and the white sheet should be replaced by the 
tinted page, preferably of a dull, yellowish-gray color. 

A source of much functional disturbance in school is the 
improper posture of children in standing, marching, sitting, 
largely caused by too much confinement to the unhygienic 
and non-adjustable seats and desks of the ordinary school. 
Nosebleed is a not infrequent result of leaning forward in the 
seat to bend over a book. Many investigators have been 
struck by the number of children that presented some irregu- 
larity of growth, being afflicted with a marked lowering of 
the right or left shoulder, scoliosis, lordosis, and round shoul- 
ders, while the habitual standing position of about one-third 
of all approached more or less closely to what Bernard Roth 
has aptly named the "gorilla type," — abdomen protruded, 
chest flat, and head shoved forward. There is also a form 
of scoliosis produced by fatigue. This latter point is signifi- 
cant ; for improper seating — apart from its direct effect upon 
the growth of the bodily structure — causes an enormous men- 
tal tension of which few are fully aware. "People who do 
not habitually stand or sit in such a manner that the body 
is poised, as it were, and at rest, will certainly suffer for their 
error in lessening efficiency in both physical and mental work. 
The attention of the student is called to the importance of the 
matter of right seating in the hope that he will try to arrange 
his chair and desk so as to save nervous wear and tear to the 
fullest possible extent. The matter of seating is of conse- 
quence not simply from the point of view of saving energy, 
but it has an important influence also upon the generation of 
force. A student leaning over his desk, with his lungs con- 
stricted and the arteries leading to the head compressed, is in 
a good way to foster mind wandering and napping. The 
organism then becomes clogged, as it were; it does not re- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 263 

ceive its due of oxygen, as a result of which the brain must 
certainly be seriously handicapped."* 

Nervous tension, however, is produced in many other ways. 
There is need of a proper recognition of the hygiene of in- 
struction. A rational, elastic course of study following the 
natural lines of growth is the first requisite for wholesome 
work. To meet individual differences, there should be a cer- 
tain elasticity of requirements and the possibility of instan- 
taneous adjustment whenever a child, or group of children, 
evinces signs of fatigue or strain. The question of recesses 
deserves attention. Some teachers have injudiciously sug- 
gested a one-session plan under high pressure, with no recesses, 
or with very brief respites only, so as to get home early in the 
afternoon. Such a plan is utterly objectionable. Concentrated 
attention and intense effort during a very few brief periods 
is all a child, even of adolescent age, can afford ; and breaks 
— that is, shorter and longer recesses — between these periods 
of work are indispensable. It his been convincingly demon- 
strated that a long noon recess, with ample time for lunch 
and rest and outdoor exercise, improves the quality of the 
work all around. 

And then, we ought not to be stingy in the matter of holi- 
days and vacations. Far from losing time, we gain time by 
timely intermissions. While our long summer vacation is 
probably an evil, there should be shorter and longer vacations 
spread over the year and come at proper stages, — at the begin- 
ning of spring, at midsummer, at harvest time, and at the 
winter solstice. Instead of suspending operations altogether 
in summer, a change of occupations, a transplanting of the 
school into the country wherever this is feasible, concentration 
on outdoor work, horticulture, agriculture, nature study and 
geography, manual occupations, art sketching, physical exer- 
cise, and the like, will be found advisable. The vacation 
schools conducted for a number of years in New York, 
Chicago, and other places have demonstrated the wisdom of 
such a course beyond the shadow of a doubt. 



*Prof. O'Shea, "The Conservation of Mental Energy," Journal 
of Pedagogy. 



264 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

Our ordinary methods of school instruction imply a great 
degree of overstimulation, while the nagging methods of 
discipline produce a large amount of worry and tension in 
the minds of our pupils. As sunshine is the most powerful 
agent in destroying the germs of bodily disease, cheerfulness 
is the best guarantee for a normal condition of the mental 
and moral organism. 

But having provided healthy conditions and stimuli as far 
as our own foresight will avail, there must be conditions in 
the children enabling them to respond in a normal manner. 
As to these, referring, for example, to the proper amount of 
sleep and nourishment, to hygienic clothing, proper care of 
the body, and the like, — the teacher may be supposed to have 
little influence and responsibility. And yet, as to his re- 
sponsibilities, since teachers are the only ones professionally 
trained for educational functions, we may justly expect them 
to do their share toward bringing about healthier conditions, 
even of home life, than are generally found. Thru visits to 
the homes, thru parents' meetings, mothers' clubs, the co-op- 
eration of the press, much can be accomplished. Yet there 
are direct measures which will reflect themselves in the 
homes. In the first part of this chapter some of these have 
been enumerated. 

As to securing for the children the necessary amount 
of rest, let us be cautious and reasonable in the mat- 
ter of home work.* In order to bring about a more 

♦While reading the proofs of the first publication of this 
chapter, the writer had opportunity of watching some school 
girls, about twelve years old, trudging home from a New York 
Public School, carrying packs of books so large and heavy 
that he asked the children to allow him to weigh them. In 
one of these packs there were about a dozen printed books, as 
many copy books, and a large geography. This pack weighed 
ii*A pounds! It was admitted that the children, pupils of a 
Fourth Grammar Grade, did not always carry quite as many 
books ; but when the regular pile was weighed it was found to 
represent still a load of over seven pounds. The books were 
needed on account of the home work required. Do teachers 
and principals who oblige growing children to carry such heavy 
and bulky packages home and back to school, realize for how 
many cases of strain, scoliosis, and other ailments they make 
themselves responsible ? 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 265 

rational style of dress for children of both sexes, where there 
is less of show and more of hygiene, let us insist upon proper 
habiliment in the gymnasium and on the open air playground. 
Several European governments like the Russian have pro- 
claimed that school girls are henceforth forbidden, under 
penalty, to wear corsets. Such an opportunity is not ours, 
but we can do much toward fighting this pernicious "gar- 
ment" by introducing a rational gymnasium gown and by 
encouraging healthy sports generally. The school physicians, 
with their measurements and examinations, will effectively 
come to our aid in this matter. 

An English surgeon calls attention to the great discomfort, 
or actual injury, caused by ill-fitting garments worn by a 
growing child. Clothing for young children is usually made 
in large quantities at a time. All the garments of the lot 
are cut after a fixed pattern, the different parts being pieced 
together rapidly and stitched by machine, all at the least pos- 
sible cost. The clothes are usually graded according to age 
instead of by size, and so a child who is slightly larger or 
smaller than the average for his years gets a misfit. But even 
those whose size and age agree are often no better off. The 
parent may notice that the child stoops and cannot be made to 
carry himself or herself erect. Some one, perhaps the family 
physician, may suggest that the frock is not loose enough, but 
the mother demonstrates to her own satisfaction that it is, by 
gathering up folds of the garment in her hands or by running 
her hand under it. But if the frock is removed and measured 
front and back, it will be noticed that the measurements 
over the chest and back are the same; in other words, the 
armholes are directly in the center. If the child's arms were 
also directly in the center, the shirt or blouse would be an 
excellent fit; but the child's anatomy is not so ordered, na- 
ture having intended that its chest should bulge out to make 
room for the lungs, while the back should be flat and more 
or less rigid. 

A very important factor for normal mental and moral 
functioning on the part of the children, not to speak of phy- 
sical growth, is proper nourishment. Here much neglect has 
been recorded. Thousands of children, even from good 



266 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

homes, come to school without sufficient breakfast, and hun- 
dreds of thousands have to be content with a cold lunch at 
noon. Louise E. Hogan in her article on "Diet for School 
Children," makes these suggestions: "The custom of send- 
ing children to school upon a light breakfast, or none at all, 
with a cold lunch for the noon meal, is reprehensible to the 
last degree. Or, if a hot dinner is provided, the habit of 
rushing home at noon in a limited time to consume eagerly 
and rapidly the food which should be eaten leisurely and en- 
joyed, has a strong influence upon the integrity of the child's 
health, and it should not be allowed under any circumstances. 
Constant nibbling between meals should be forbidden by 
both parents and teachers. A half hour's play should be 
given between the eating of a meal and the beginning of 
study. Children should not be allowed to gulp down their 
meals in order to have more time to play. An enforced 
presence at table or lunch basket for the time necessary for 
slow consumption of food will soon regulate this matter." 

The latter point is important; insufficient chewing and 
salivation is responsible for much dyspepsia. As many par- 
ents are often too ignorant or too poor to make proper provi- 
sion, and as even well prepared lunches are likely to become 
stale before they are eaten, the furnishing of meals (break- 
fasts and luncheons) has become a well established institution 
in many schools. The food consists of sandwiches, soup, 
warm hash or stew, assorted cakes, and hot tea and coffee. 
The pupils cannot spend more than ten cents a meal, and 
they can get a good one for five. There was a cooking de- 
partment in a certain high school, and the teacher in charge 
co-operated with the Superintendent with the establishment 
of hot luncheons as a result. As early as 1892 in France, 
school children took their midday meal at a public table pro- 
vided by the state. They pay for what they eat with counters 
bought by their parents at so much a dozen. Parents who 
cannot pay are provided with counters free, which their chil- 
dren pass in without their schoolmates knowing that they are 
eating the bread of charity. Thus every child is sure of one 
good meal a day. "There is wonderful sympathy," says the 
School Journal, "existing between their midday lunch and 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 267 

the afternoon brightness of the children." That proper at- 
tention should be given to the matter of regular and com- 
plete digestion, may be remarked in passing. 

What has been said so far refers, it seems, exclusively to 
the welfare of the pupils of the school, and appears to imply 
that the teacher is beyond the reach of unwholesome influ- 
ences, that he has an iron constitution both mentally and 
physically, so as to be altogether unconcerned in provisions of 
a sanitary nature, or in the hygiene of instruction. And yet, 
we know well enough that this is not the case; that if the 
pupils suffer from unhygienic conditions, the teachers are 
sufferers also. Especially as he is mostly a she, the severe 
physical and mental tension to which the teacher is exposed 
creates havoc in the delicate organism which often strives in 
vain to adjust itself to abnormal demands and circumstances. 
There is a long record of breakdowns and nervous collapses, 
temporary disablements and lasting injuries. Yea, even 
tho it may not always come to such serious consequences, 
the unhappiness, worry, and morbid moods in the teacher 
which reflect themselves so unfortunately and mischievously 
in the spirit, temper, and work of the children and which 
form, indeed, the worst unhygienic condition for their activi- 
ty, are sad enough to observe and easy enough to explain 
by prevailing unwholesome influences. There is unnecessary 
overwork, an overburdening with harassing details, and over- 
abundance of wearisome rules and regulations, too much 
cramming for examinations, and monotonous, pedantic work 
with the children; often lack of inspiration from the head of 
the school, or of the school system, or from the schoolboard, 
or from the community at large; and last but not least, 
there is the irritating uncertainty with regard to the tenure 
of the position, in spite of faithful and effective work, and 
the ever pressing financial anxiety caused by insufficient sal- 
aries which, in some states, are on a par with the cost of 
maintaining paupers. 

Better sanitation of schools, better hygienic conditions gen- 
erally, more rational and elastic courses of study, and all 
those things which make the school life of our pupils more 
normal, more healthy, more certain of good results, and above 



268 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

all happier, will also favorably react upon the teacher. Even 
he is, as it were, a human being. And let us remember that 
upon him and his normal condition depends the greater part 
of the influences that shape the school life of our children. 
He is, even in matters of the hygienic administration of a 
schoolroom, the executive officer whose ability, intelligence, 
faithfulness, consideration, and ready tact are determinative. 
The very best hygienic equipment and the most psychological 
course of study will remain ineffective without an effective 
management and careful application by the teacher. And 
from him must radiate those inspiring influences which set 
the mental and moral organism of the child into normal 
activity to secure normal progress and higher differentiation. 
In applying our best hygienic knowledge to the needs of the 
teacher as well as of the pupils, let us remember the incontro- 
vertible fact that, after all, the teacher is the school. 



CHAPTER XVII 

Problems of Discipline 

THE discussion of discipline requires a clear con- 
ception of its meaning and object. Discipline is 
not only that condition which enables a pupil, or 
a class, to put their best efforts to their work, but 
also that force which tends to develop in each in- 
dividual an amount of self-control and self-direction sufficient 
for right living generally. The school contributes its share 
to the building up of this sort of discipline, altho, of course, 
this share varies in amplitude in accordance with the influ- 
ence a school succeeds in exerting, and is, at best, but a part 
and fraction of the disciplinary influences potent in the life of 
a child. It is evident that many factors enter into the sum 
total of these influences, factors upon which a healthy dis- 
ciplinary condition depends, and it requires some insight into 
these factors and influences to appreciate the full meaning of 
disciplinary effort on the part of the educator. 

The prevailing notion of discipline is based on gross mis- 
conceptions of its character and purpose. It is superficial and 
perfunctory. It is mechanical and dead. It is a sham and a 
delusion. It means an abuse of the significant terms order 
and attention. "What is the aim of the teacher?" once asked 
Col. Parker, the great pioneer for better methods in our 
schools. "Some think of nothing but keeping the children 
still ; they cry out for order; their aim is stillness. It is often 
obtained by the expenditure of cant, hypocrisy and wicked- 
ness. The attempt is to look like an angel in the face while 
the devil is in the heart." 

The idea of discipline has been so long connected, in the 

269 



270 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

minds of many, with the notion of punishment that the term 
"to discipline" has come to mean almost the identical thing 
as "to punish". Children playing "school" will be found to 
take greatest delight in administering punishment ; this seems, 
in their minds, to be the dominant element of the teacher's 
functions. To tell the truth, very little faith is to be placed 
in punishment under otherwise normal circumstances, — in 
its moral effect, — or even in our right to punish, as long as 
punishment retains the old significance of "retaliation", or 
"revenge", "penalty", "chastisement." It is true we have, in 
these modern times, learnt to appreciate that, after all, the 
only function we have as educators is that of placing the child 
into the position to work out his own salvation. We are 
neither his masters nor his beadles. Sometimes, perhaps, in 
mediating to him experience so as to train him in the faculty 
of adjusting himself to his surroundings, or to prepare him 
for future emergencies, we may have to employ means which 
symbolize, or interpret, to him the forces and laws of nature 
which he not yet knows. In this process, we may be obliged, 
occasionally, to use forcible measures, even "corporal punish- 
ment", if you please, and were it only to make it plain that he 
must submit to our guidance as we have to submit to the 
divine order of nature. If the child himself represents a 
lower type of humanity, with brutal instincts and irrational 
emotionality, we may have to take recourse to methods which 
are adapted to his special case while they would be utterly 
out of place with the majority of children. In fact, the 
teacher in the ordinary school will have little occasion for 
desperate methods; children who would seem to require them 
are in need of special diagnosis and require expert treatment. 
Then, again, methods of "discipline" adapted to young chil- 
dren who represent the primitive stage of development are ill- 
chosen for those who have outgrown that stage. Each devel- 
opmental level has its own disciplinary laws. 

But the proper administration of disciplinary measures 
must rid itself of the character of punishment pure and sim- 
ple. "Evil must be resisted, but we must not retaliate", said 
Dr. Paul Carus. We must assume the same attitude towards 
the youthful offender in the schoolroom which enlightened 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 271 

criminology takes towards abnormal or atypical members of 
society. The new view of the function of criminal courts has 
not been realized in practice to any extent, and there is still 
much miscarriage of justice. But the reform must come 
along the line of what has been expressed in the words of Dr. 
Edward F. Brush, who once said: "When our courts of jus- 
tice recognize that their functions are not to avenge, but to 
cure society of its diseased members, and that the treatment 
must be scientific, effectual, and humane, then the sentiments 
exhibited toward the criminal will be the same that we dis- 
play toward the person afflicted with small-pox, typhoid fever, 
and the like. As organized society we have the right to 
protect ourselves both against the unfortunate criminal and 
the unfortunate person afflicted with a contagious disease, but 
this right should not be deemed the right to punish. All men 
of scientific turn of mind who have made a study of criminal 
anthropology are fast approaching the physician's position 
regarding such questions". 

In the matter of public administration of justice one nota- 
ble step forward has been taken which is of particular value 
to the educator: the establishment of special courts for juven- 
ile offenders, coupled with the system of probation. 

If this is the right attitude toward criminals, it should be 
easy for us, as educators, to assume the same position toward 
the more or less innocent transgressions which confront us in 
the schoolroom. A teacher ought never to get excited, as 
little as a physician would when called upon to handle a case 
of persistent chills and fever; children should never succeed 
in angering us, or arousing in us a desire for retaliation. A 
child's standard of morality has little relation to the adult 
standard. What to the adult would be immoral, has perhaps 
no significance to a child. The child is mostly influenced by 
unconscious imitation and suggestion, and by the formation 
of habits of response for which his environment is largely re- 
sponsible. Children act by impulse, not purposefully. We 
cannot suppress impulses altogether ; we may divert them. If 
the gratification of an impulse should invariably be accom- 
panied with unpleasant feelings, it will expend itself in an- 
other direction. This is the logic of "punishment". 



272 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

A scientific and charitable view of children's actions was 
not entertained by our predecessors in schoolmastery. They 
believed in the native depravity of their pupils, and their 
whole career was one continuous warfare with the devils 
possessing them. This prospect was even one of the reasons 
why women were for a long while thought incapable of 
teaching school ; they lacked the physical strength which was 
supposed to be necessary for a successful fight with the per- 
verse instincts of the traditional pupil. An Eton headmaster 
flogged eighty boys in one night. There is the instructive 
record of the old Suabian schoolmaster who, during the fifty- 
one years and seven months of his official life inflicted 91 1,527 
blows with a rod, 124,010 blows with a cane, 20,989 taps 
with a ruler, 136,715 blows with the hand, 10,235 blows 
over the mouth, 7905 boxes on the ear, and 1,118,800 raps 
on the head. Seven hundred and seventy-seven times he made 
boys kneel on peas, and 613 times on a three-cornered piece 
of wood, made 3001 pupils wear the dunce cap, and 1707 to 
hold up the rod. 

This schoolmaster "Hauerle" (literally: "The Little Beat- 
ing Master") may be a myth; but schoolmasters of this sort 
have surely been typical for centuries. 

The old idea of punishment as a method of discipline, i. 
e. discipline thru retaliation or revenge, is the result of a 
lack of scientific insight, especially of psychologic under- 
standing. Let us not forget that we can never radically 
change a child whatever influences we can bring to bear up- 
on him — we can only develop those qualities which he al- 
ready possesses in a manner as will turn them to best advan- 
tage. This implies, to be sure, also a repression or re-direc- 
tion of impulses and instincts which are disadvantageous 
from the viewpoint of constructive civilization. But this re- 
pression and re-direction must after all come from within, 
to be lasting, from an awakening of the inhibitory powers of 
self-control and higher motives. A mere external repression 
would never be permanent. 

Old-fashioned punishment is negative in character. It 
may act as a deterrent inasmuch as the child receiving a pain 
sensation of some kind may be momentarily checked in his 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 273 

unbridled impulse and have time for reflection. Even if the 
punishment should be "deserved," that is to say if there was 
justice and fairness on the part of the teacher, mere punish- 
ment goes no farther. A teacher has been quoted as saying: 
"When a child is punished I sometimes think that he feels 
that he has had his way, and that having paid the price the 
account is squared. If willing to pay the price he feels that 
he can do the same thing over again; no finer moral deter- 
rent having been infused by the punishment." 

Punishment is often enough the confession of weakness on 
the part of the educator. If we could, or knew how to, con- 
trol at every moment all the influences working upon the 
child, there would be little occasion for abnormal develop- 
ment. Punishment, then, which is called forth by some sort 
of real or seeming perversion in the child, is frequently a des- 
perate attempt to remedy the effect of our own helplessness, 
neglect, ignorance, or blunders. If we would always consid- 
er this fact we should be less ready to punish the child ; some- 
times the punishment should be applied "higher up". And 
then punishment appeals to one of the lowest and most primi- 
tive instincts of childhood, to fear. Fear, however, is the 
worst possible incentive to right doing. It has its place only 
on the lowest rung of the ladder of the child's evolution. 

We shall reach the best results by kindling in the child's 
breast the right incentives; and as each child feels and acts 
and reacts in his own individual way, the only rational 
method to reach him is to study him as an individual and to 
employ individual tests and incentives. Generally speaking, 
positive measures will be found the most effective ones: en- 
couragement, positive suggestion, making the child believe 
in his own powers for good. 

In determining what factors constitute a rational discipline 
we must first consider the causes of those breaks and defects 
which may call forth disciplinary measures. There is no 
one such cause, and the cause is not always of what may be 
styled a moral nature. The doctrine of original sin and to- 
tal depravity has worked so much mischief in the ethical and 
religious evolution of mankind that we should, in our dealing 
with children, eliminate it from our pedagogical catechism. 



274 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

In the course of countless ages, since the early beginnings 
of the human race on this globe, there has been evolved a type 
of man which we may call the normal civilized type. This 
evolution was controlled by the well-known law of the sur- 
vival of the fittest. The civilized type is the normal type of 
the present time because it most closely corresponds to the 
conditions which determine human existence on earth. Every 
deviation from the normal type stamps an individual as more 
or less exceptional. As will be shown in the chapter on de- 
fectives, and in the chapter on criminality in children, there 
are several kinds of true abnormality. One is caused by 
arrested development; the second by pathological changes. 
The first class comprises those individuals whose devel- 
opment was normal enough as far as it went — but it 
was checked for some reason or other before it reached the 
present normal level of typical man. Persons of this class 
represent a more or less primitive or savage type, with ab- 
original instincts in full force which have been, in normal 
man, restrained by the effects of later civilization; and with 
a lower degree of intellectuality. Defectives of this kind 
are seldom redeemable. They are the congenital idiots, crim- 
inals, degenerates, etc. In the pathological group, on the 
other hand, the defect is the result of disease, of functional 
disturbance. Derangements of the nervous system are at 
the bottom of many of the symptoms observable in these in- 
dividuals, be they of a physical, intellectual, or moral na- 
ture. 

As in other pathological cases, there are in these, different 
degrees of severity. Some are chronic, others acute; some 
individuals will forever retain a certain amount of irregular- 
ity; with others, the irritation, derailment, or weakness is only 
temporary. Some will need special treatment, in special 
classes or schools; others can be dealt with in the ordinary 
classes. But in every instance curative, not penal, measures 
are required in the handling. 

The author has carried on special investigations of the 
problem of the exceptional child, and refers to his other pub- 
lications on the subject. It has been his endeavor to evolve 
a suitable classification and terminology which could be used 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 275 

as a working basis for further researches, and this classifica- 
tion, as finally formulated in a paper presented before the 
Atlantic City meeting of the American Academy of Medi- 
cine, has met with a cordial reception and is at present recog- 
nized by many as a helpful starting point.* 

Some seeming abnormalities are really symptoms of nor- 
mal conditions. Let us be reminded of those periods in the 
life of a child when grave functional changes are talcing place, 
as for example the fatigue period from 8 to 10 years of age, 
and the pubescent and adolescent periods from 12 to 20. 
Judicious and discreet handling of these cases is particularly 
mandatory lest the temporary aberrations and morbid devel- 
opments, due as they are to natural irritations of the nervous 
system at these periods, lead to permanent defects. One of 
the characteristic troubles of both these periods is truancy, 
which in these cases is largely due to reverberations of the 
migratory instinct, as set forth before. Says Hawthorne, in 
his "Twice-Told Tales", in beginning the story of "Little 
Annie's Ramble": "She feels that impulse to go strolling 
away — that longing after the mystery of the great world — 
which many children feel, and which I felt in my childhood." 
And so Annie and Hawthorne wander forth, forgetting to 
tell anybody of their ramble, so that the afflicted mother had 
to send the town-crier after the strayed child. 

In fact, most cases of truancy may be explained not so 
much by an inherent viciousness of the child, as by conditions 
which make school life a burden or a monotony to him. The 
normal child in a school adapted to his needs will never play 
truant. 

The cause of children's seeming misdemeanors is often 
grossly misinterpreted. Not only that we misjudge the mo- 
tives of children too frequently — we take it for granted that 



*Cf. (a) "Classification of Exceptional Children as a Guide 
in Determining Segregation", Bulletin of the American Academy 
of Medicine, Vol. X, No. 5, October, 1909. 

(b) "Mid-Year Statement of the National Association for the 
Study and Education of Exceptional Children", Watchung 
Crest, Plainfield, N. J., September 1, 1009. 



276 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

the child is to blame when it is really ourselves, or the con- 
ditions under which the child works that are responsible. 
A child may not really know or understand what is expected 
of him, and may need information and help rather than pun- 
ishment. And again, physical irregularities, in digestion and 
circulation, in hearing and seeing, ill-fitting clothing, lack of 
proper nutrition, etc., may be the potent causes of irritation 
and sulkiness. Indolence is in many instances a disease, not 
a moral defect. And even if it were a "moral" defect, what 
does that mean? It implies lack of will power, lack of self- 
control, of application and concentration. It means defective 
development of the higher association centers, of inhibition 
and voluntary adjustment. The cause of all this may be con- 
stitutional ; it may be the effect of arrested development, of 
functional disturbances in the nervous system, and what not. 
Let us seek for the cause, and remove it if we can — not 
punish the symptom. A similar argument may be advanced 
in the matter of children's lies which require a particularly 
intelligent handling. 

Furthermore, an overheated or overcrowded room, lack of 
oxygen and of exercise, fatigue, nervous tension due to un- 
hygienic conditions of work and program, of seats and desks, 
and light and air, etc., etc. ; the effect of the weather upon 
pupils and teachers, and many other things may be responsible 
for many disagreeable happenings in the schoolroom. It has 
been statistically proven that more crimes and suicides have 
been committed, and more school punishments recorded, on 
cloudy days, or when the air was oppressive, the weather 
threatening, and the electric tension excessive, than on bright 
and pleasant days. And have the varying moods of the 
teacher nothing to do with this effect? Again, sometimes the 
child comes to school from a stormy home atmosphere which 
has swept away the current of his energy and left him deplete 
of cheerfulness. In other instances, a refreshing or cleansing 
bath will readily wash off the repulsive ugliness which had 
clogged the child's physical and moral pores. 

Or, the child is mischievous because he wants to get rid of 
accumulated energy which must be expended in some way. 
Is he to blame if we fail to direct this activity into the proper 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 277 

channels where it may be turned to advantage and be con- 
verted into a constructive force? 

A rational discipline, be it repeated, will be characterized 
by positive measures and influences. It will be based upon the 
old experience that an ounce of prevention is better than a 
pound of cure, and that a busy child is seldom a mischievous 
child. There should greet the child a bright schoolroom over 
which a bright, sympathetic, well-trained and intelligent 
teacher presides. The physical light will be transformed into 
mental and emotional light; the brightness of the room will 
inspire the children to be bright and cheerful. 

Light, indeed, there be, and an abundance of it. Proper 
hygienic conditions generally. A hygienically constructed 
school house, schoolroom, daily program and course of study 
are in themselves mighty agents in matters of discipline. 
There must be a recognition of the individual needs of each 
and every child, physical, mental, and moral. There must be 
healthy work which keeps the children busy because it is ade- 
quate to their ability and natural interests, and which will 
concentrate their attention. Their interests, not their pleas- 
ure. There is a fine distinction between interesting, and 
amusing, or pleasing, a child. Manual work, excursions, phy- 
sical training, etc., will afford an outlet for those pent-up en- 
ergies which require direction. 

Of course, there will arise, in spite of all precautions, op- 
portunities for unhappiness and friction. Here the teacher's 
tact and justice must come forward. His aim must be, not 
to enforce an outward conformity, but to develop motives 
for right action in the heart of the child. A child is ever 
open to timely suggestions. The suggestiveness of children 
is marvelous, and just as it is not infrequently the cause of 
much morbid development, it will, in the hands of the tact- 
ful educator, become a serviceable and indispensable means 
for the building up of wholesome motives and ideals in the 
mind of the child. Prof. Baldwin, in his book on "Mental 
Development," states: "The transition from the involuntary 
class of muscular reactions to which the general word 'sug- 
gestion' applies, to the performance of actions foreseen and 
intended, occurs . . . thru the persistence and repeti- 



278 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

tion of imitative suggestions." We see, then, the determina- 
tive effect which suggestions have upon the development of 
the child's will. 

Whenever there are cases of persistent wilfulness, do not 
become angry or impatient. Punishment will avail little, it 
may even increase the stubborn resistance. In fact, it will 
often act as a sort of additional suggestion toward the wrong 
action, concentrating as it does the child's attention still more 
forcibly upon it. Stubbornness is frequently the result of 
some persistent idea in the mind which craves attention and 
crowds out other thoughts, and has the effect of an almost in- 
sane auto-suggestion. The best plan under such circum- 
stances is to make as little as possible of the perverse activity 
and to gently lead the child's attention away from the per- 
sistent idea into another channel. 

An early training in obedience will do much to guard the 
child against the development of fits of stubbornness, no 
doubt. Yet, a child's obedience is not a virtue. It has noth- 
ing in common with the willing submission of the mature 
mind to natural and ethical law. The child has not this 
maturity. His obedience is a reflex habit, acquired in the 
earliest years by careful and consistent training. The early 
implicit belief in authority, characteristic of the period of 
childhood, is quite instrumental in deepening the effect of 
the early training in the habit of obedience. It can be pre- 
served only by ever-purposeful and harmonious treatment 
on the part of all educative forces, — a treatment which 
should never be harsh and tyrannical, but always firm and in- 
telligent. Disobedience, if it is not the effect of pathological 
conditions, is invariably due to inconsistent and unwise treat- 
ment. 

Prompt obedience being a reflex habit, the faculty to ren- 
der it can also be trained by proper exercises in attention 
and reaction. Among these are the rising and standing on 
signal, taking books and pencils out in a certain order, cal- 
isthenic and rhythmic exercises, drills of various kinds. If 
these things are not overdone so as to degenerate into pe- 
dantic formalism, they are helpful in the training of the 
senses, of muscular co-ordination and nerve-control. They 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 279 

tend to shorten what is called the reaction time, i. e., the time 
which elapses between a sensation and the responsive activi- 
ty set free by the brain which receives the sensory message. 

Generally, inasmuch as this responsive activity in its evolution 
from mere reflex reaction to a co-operation of the higher 
centers becomes truly voluntary, — exercises of this kind, and 
manual work, art work, constructive work of all sorts, prove 
their value for the training of the will. The will, like any 
other faculty of the human soul, can be trained only by prac- 
tice. 

This training of the will thru exercises in reflex activity is 
the reverse process from the one which first engages the will 
to develop activities which may become reflex or auto- 
matic by practice. In the case under discussion, what is meant 
is the evolution of a higher consciousness and self-control 
from the combination of lower excitations on a higher as- 
sociative level. Both processes are active in the development 
of the will, being mutually subservient. Yet, it is plain 
that the higher organisms, being distinguished from the low- 
er by the development of these higher brain levels which are 
conducive to consciousness and true volition, have been 
evolved by the force of natural causes, thru reaction upon 
external stimuli, from those lower forms where there is no 
conscious activity. 

There is no better way for the training of our pupils in 
self-control than to give them chances to exercise it. That 
is to say, we must early enlist their own sense of responsi- 
bility. As a rule, we govern too much, and hedge in our 
pupils with a large number of rules and restrictions the 
sense of which they cannot often fathom. This is the surest 
way of weakening their will-power towards right living. An 
arm all bandaged up, or chained to a wall, will lose its 
strength and flexibility; and a mind never allowed to move 
freely, will never be independent. Or again, our efforts to 
restrict the youthful spirit of our pupils and to tie them down 
to a set of mechanical regulations, may call forth a feeling of 
resentment in their maturing minds, and while we may suc- 
ceed in repressing open rebellion, there will be estrangement. 
And can we suppose that we may train a body of children 



280 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

to republican citizenship if we lord it over them all the 
while in true monarchical fashion? Indeed, by enlisting the 
co-operation of our pupils, by allowing them an increasing 
amount of freedom and self-government the older and ma- 
turer they grow, we shall not only lighten our own burdens 
of discipline, but enable the children to develop in their souls 
the precious faculties of self-confidence, self-control, and 
civic responsibility. 

And in employing methods of discipline, let us be re- 
minded again and again of the different stages the child passes 
thru from infancy to adolescence. To each of these stages, 
different methods will have to be applied, because the stand- 
ard of the child's emotions, thoughts and activities changes 
materially during these periods. 

It is the most absurd thing in the marking of school rec- 
ords to mark that intangible thing which is called "conduct". 
It would require a more than human — it would require a div- 
ing insight into the workings of the human heart, to say with 
any amount of accuracy and justice that one child's conduct 
is io per cent, or 20 per cent, better than another's. For 
in the problems of discipline, what are we concerned in if not 
in character-building? Character — and the power for good. 
This once realized in our own minds, we shall reduce the 
various expressions of individual attitudes as we meet them 
in the daily life of the schoolroom, to their just, relative pro- 
portions. 

To do this, the teacher himself must have the right spirit 
and attitude. He must believe in the child's better nature; 
he must not weigh down the child's soul by distrust, bitter- 
ness, sarcasm and injustice. Injustice destroys the child's 
confidence which it is naturally so ready to bestow; often it 
causes utter grief and resentment. The teacher who is an 
inspiration to his pupils and who possesses their implicit con- 
fidence and trust, will never be much worried by petty mat- 
ters of discipline. He who knows how to arouse and hold 
his pupils' attention and interest, will have rare occasion for 
fault-finding and punishment. 

Here, the teacher, the true teacher, is recognized to be an 
artist whose wonderful achievements are due to the intuition 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 281 

of genius. It is the privilege of the artist, and the secret of 
his uplifting influence upon his surroundings, that he can see 
beauty in everything. 

This thought has perhaps been never expressed as fitly as 
in the words of Elmer E. Brown, now Commissioner of 
Education, in an article which he wrote years ago. Said he : 

"For the artist teacher, it is of first importance to be able 
to see the good. Every school superintendent knows the 
teacher who has skill in finding the worst side of children; 
but such a teacher is not a true artist. There is another type 
of teacher, by no means rare — the teacher who finds good in 
every pupil, no matter how deeply it be overlaid with evil. 
In comparison with the severe critic of childhood, this teacher 
seems a fond and foolish dupe. I suspect that all true artists 
are affected with a certain sort of blindness. It is a merciful 
provision which enables them to see realities without the in- 
trusion of actualities. The existence of this blind spot must 
be taken into account when we ask real teachers to make an 
impartial and dispassionate study of their children. 'To see 
the best,' as Mr. Barrie has said, 'is to see most clearly;' and 
he adds that 'it is the lover's privilege.' But next to the 
lover, it is the artist's privilege. This means, for the teacher, 
that it is his to find some aptitude in the dullest pupil and 
some virtue in the most vicious. He may reveal to his pupils 
capabilities and aspirations which they had never themselves 
discovered. It is not enough that he believe them to be good 
for something: he must have the wit to find what that some- 
thing is. . . It is not by frivolous condescension to 
their childishness that the true teacher nears himself to his 
charges. He takes them by the hand and leads them up to 
the higher ground where he is himself at home. ... A 
great teacher is one in whose presence we think great 
thoughts; but our best teachers are they who lead us to our 
noblest thoughts after their bodily presence is withdrawn." 



CHAPTER XVIII 

The Treatment of Defectives 

THERE is a class of children who for many ages 
past have been the object of much misdirected 
indignation and condemnation, who have not 
seldom been considered as incarnations of the 
devil, when they were largely the product of vices 
of their ancestors, of the injustice practiced in our yet rather 
unenlightened society, and of a generally unhealthy environ- 
ment; at any rate, of conditions for which they were not re- 
sponsible. It is a sad chapter in the history of our race in 
which the treatment of defectives is written — cruel, vindic- 
tive, reckless as it has often been. And where these unfor- 
tunates were not subjected to barbaric measures which were 
intended to drive out the evil spirits supposedly possessing 
them, they suffered from neglect or were made the butt of 
ridicule. The poor simpleton hooted at by ragamuffins in the 
street, the "fool" hung over with gilded bells and abused to 
please the drunken guests at some king's court, the blind beg- 
gar in the public thorofare — they all testified to the crude- 
ness of an age when the thought that these unhappy persons 
ought to be the subjects of sympathetic care, and that much 
might be done to alleviate their suffering and restore them to 
approximately normal conditions, had not yet dawned upon 
men. Luckily we are now living in a more enlightened age, 
and many burdens have already been lifted from the shoulders 
of our ill-fated brethren and sisters. We have asylums for 
our insane, and institutions for defectives of all kinds, for the 
deaf and dumb and crippled and blind, and many are re- 
deemed from apparent degeneracy to enter upon a useful life. 

282 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 283 

And yet there are still many who do not receive the atten- 
tion and care and ready sympathy they stand so much in need 
of. The most pronounced cases are recognized and, as a rule, 
properly handled ; but our schools and homes are full of such 
as are dragging along an unlucky existence because their con- 
ditions are not understood. 

In order to arrive at an intelligent appreciation of the sub- 
ject under discussion, it may be well to review the different 
classes of defectives which may be met with. It is hardly 
necessary to mention those afflicted children whose senses are 
so badly impaired that they are readily recognized as defec- 
tives. We may, however, remember that some, while not 
really blind or deaf, have such defective vision or hearing that 
they are prevented from doing normal work. Leaving out 
this class for the present, we may distinguish two great 
groups of defectives. First there are those suffering from 
genuine psychoses, i. e. mental diseases. Here again we have 
several subdivisions, viz.: Those in whom we can observe 
insanity proper, then idiots, and finally criminals. On the 
other hand we have the group of what German psychologists 
have called ' 'psychopath ische Minderwerthigkeiten," a term 
not easily translated into English. We may designate them, 
following Van Liew's translation of the term, as "minor men- 
tal abnormalities." 

Both groups are characterized by abnormal development 
either from congenital causes (i. e. those working upon the 
child before birth), or in consequence of pathological influ- 
ences of some kind after birth, or from both causes. There is 
noticeable an undeveloped state of body and mind, which 
represents either arrested development or pathological aberra- 
tion of organ and function. Oftentimes the source of arrest 
or aberration was an accidental one, and the consequences 
could have been obviated had there been an early recognition. 
Certain periods in a child's life are particularly fertile in 
causes of temporary derangements which need careful and 
wise attention. Let us be reminded of the fatigue period at 
eight or nine, when undue forcing of the child may produce 
lasting debility which may injure not only his physical but 
his spiritual growth. Particularly fraught with perils are 



284 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

the periods of pubescence and adolescence when our girls 
and boys represent the adventurous stage in the development 
of state and nation, when their actions bear a striking resem- 
blance, not only to the habits of pioneer and frontier life, but 
also to the life of those strata of society which even in our 
present civilization must be considered as residual of past 
historical stages of race development. The migratory impulse 
which is so largely the basis and explanation of truancy at 
this age, is very characteristic for the spirit of our adolescents 
no more than for the reckless life habits of a certain portion 
of our population. In his study of The Migratory Impulse 
vs. The Love of Home ( Amer. Journal of Psychology, X, I ) 
Mr. L. W. Kline shows that many "have an insatiable de- 
sire for conjuring with the unknown factor that lurks in the 
untried, to commit their fortunes to the play of the mys- 
terious and unconscious forces of the universe which to so 
many lend an irresistible charm to a new game, new neigh- 
bors, a new house, a new farm, a new position, a new enter- 
prise. In gambling it is the element of chance, in trading and 
barter it is termed luck. Hence it is that we find so many 
of these people doing a shiftless, bartering, and gambling 
business where the conditions of chance and luck have their 
fullest swing. In all probability these conditions were at 
their best during the life of the primitive hunter and trapper. 
Here the probability that labor will be proportionately re- 
warded is at a minimum. The ratio of reward to labor be- 
comes so infinitely small that he comes to regard his rewards 
and successes as due to chance rather than personal effort. 
One should not wonder, then, at barbarous and semi-civilized 
people persistently and continually creating conditions in 
which chance is at a maximum. Trapping, hunting and fish- 
ing are pursuits that reward more by chance than deliberate 
effort or certainty. Daily bread is the reward of one lucky 
arrow, spear, trap, or net out of a hundred of such instru- 
ments, and not by the sweat of the brow. The psychology 
of longing to be in some other place, for new conditions, for 
speculating, for gambling, is a reassertion of the old associa- 
tion between chance and reward formed when the welfare of 
man was largely dependent on the mysterious forces of 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 285 

chance." 

This view of the psychology of these cases of lower hu- 
manity is corroborated by many other observations. Miss 
Jane Adams of Hull House, Chicago, once remarked that a 
very little familiarity with the poor districts of any city is 
sufficient to show how primitive and frontier-like are the 
neighborly relations among this class of people. Later she 
points out the impossibility of substituting a higher ethical 
standard for a lower one without the intermediate stages of 
growth. And, again, she speaks of the ethical epochs to 
which the different types of defectives and paupers belong. 
"We are," she says, "singularly slow to apply the evolution- 
ary principle to human affairs in general." 

It requires but little reflection to understand how in our 
adolescents, by neglect of their particular needs, we may 
cause such an arrest of their normal development that they 
will never grow beyond this primitive stage and thus be- 
come permanently defective — from the point of view of pro- 
gressive civilization. 

They will never grow beyond this stage? That would 
designate them as hopeless cases. Strong as this statement 
may appear, and altho it may not apply generally, pro- 
vided the symptoms of defectiveness are early recognized and 
adequately treated, — we must not blind ourselves against the 
sad fact that there is indeed a percentage of defectives which 
we are forced to pronounce as unredeemable. Cretinism, e. 
g., is well known as an incurable malady in which bodily de- 
formity and mental imbecility combine. Cretinism as well 
as idiocy admits of no complete restoration, altho we may 
mitigate it to a certain extent. The feeble-minded and also 
the morally abnormal ought never to be allowed to re-enter 
human society or propagate their kind after their own free 
will, as far as they have any. 

Among the many causes producing these unredeemable de- 
fects are hereditary influences, defects and vices in the par- 
ents, malnutrition, the giving of alcohol to infants, epilepsy, 
etc. Darwin states that idiots who resemble the lower spe- 
cies of primates, mentally and physically, are often much 
more hairy than normal persons. "In idiots," says Pro- 



286 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

fessor Quantz,*) "the higher volitional functions are ab- 
sent, and their restraining hand — which is heavy upon all 
of us, but unfelt because of its continual presence — is lifted 
from these unfortunates, and they often show by action and 
expression a forcible likeness to apes. The hopeless cases, 
which have much less intelligence than apes, show such atav- 
istic characteristics as the vacant stare, gluttonous appetite, 
thick, everted lips, ill-formed, large ears, fingers long and 
slender." 

Referring to Dr. Hamarberg's studies, Dr. Frederick 
Burk* reports: "In all cases, the brains of defectives showed 
marked deficiencies. The developed cells were far fewer in 
number and of irregular and retarded development. His 
study leads to the conclusion that the idiot brain is one which 
has suffered arrest of development in some particular, in- 
volving larger or smaller areas of the brain, at some early 
period. * * * 

"Dr. Down some years ago contributed a classification of 
congenial idiots according to ethnic types — Negroids, Malays, 
Indians, Mongols. He asserts that more than ten per cent, 
of the congenital feeble-minded children are typical Mon- 
gols." 

A curious class of idiots are those who exhibit some pecu- 
liar excellency along a special line of activity. To this class 
belong the negro idiot, "Blind Tom," a musical prodi- 
gy, and Inaudi, the mathematical prodigy, whose lightning 
calculations have been the wonder of the world. Dr. Fred- 
erick Peterson made a careful study of these cases. He says: 

"We may deduce from a study of such cases several facts 
which are noteworthy. First, the mathematical aptitude in 
idiocy is never of a high order. The faculty consists entirely 
of excessive powers in mental arithmetic — in simple calcula- 
tion, which is a better term to apply to it. Secondly, it is in- 
stinctive and congenital. It is observed only in the congen- 



*Dendro-psychoses, American Journal of Psychology, IX, 4. 
♦Development of the Nervous System, Pedagogical Semin- 
ary, VI, I. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 287 

ital variety of idiots, imbeciles, and degenerates; and on 
careful examination we shall find anatomical and physiologi- 
cal as well as psychological stigmata of degeneration in such 
cases. Thirdly, much of the faculty is due to the increased 
power of visualization — to great development of certain parts 
of the sight centres. Most of us, in mental arithmetic, com- 
pute by means of visual images." 

These are his conclusions: "The aptitudes of various 
kinds described above as not infrequently encountered in 
idiots are all of rather low order. They are never found in 
any but the congenitally defective, who usually present the 
stigmata of degeneration. They consist chiefly of great 
powers of memory, visual or auditory, and of facility in im- 
itation. There is no spontaneous invention. The idiots sa- 
vants are mere copyists in music, modeling, designing, or 
painting; yet at the same time their talents stand out in 
strong contrast to their general feeble-mindedness. As a 
rule, the aptitudes are precociously developed, and are fre- 
quently lost before reaching adult life."* 

Let us also be clear about one thing: Idiots are absolutely 
incapable of what we call choice — they possess no conscious 
individuality — their mental activity is automatic and essen- 
tially irrational. In this respect they resemble very closely 
that class of criminals which we may call "born criminals." 
The following chapter contains a more detailed reference to 
criminal tendencies in children. Only this may be said here, 
that criminality is either a pathological, i. e., diseased con- 
dition, or the result of what has been called degeneration. 
"By degeneration," says Fere, "should be understood the loss 
of the hereditary qualities that have determined and fixed 
the characteristics of the race." 

The last class of psychoses to which attention must be 
called is insanity. It may be supposed that it is unnecessary 
to speak of insanity in a discussion especially devoted to the 
educational treatment of children. But this would imply an 



*Cf. the author's paper on "Exceptionally Bright Children", 
proceedings of the National Association for the Study and 
Education of Exceptional Children, April, iqio. 



288 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

erroneous conception. Even children have not infrequently 
been known to be subject to mental derangements which 
must be classed as genuine insanity. The critical periods in 
the life of a child to which reference has before been made 
are often conducive to mental disturbances of this kind, 
again particularly the period of sexual development. And 
then insanity not only occurs in a form more or less perma- 
nent, but is much more frequently a transitory aberration, 
lasting some times not longer than an hour. Physical irri- 
tations, depressive influences (melancholia), fits of despond- 
ency, fright, etc., will produce temporary dementia. These 
phenomena must be recognized and properly handled, lest 
they lead to permanent derangements which, as has been in- 
dicated in earlier pages, will defy curative treatment. Many 
a case of discipline will be understood in its true causality if 
we remember these facts. Further, nervous troubles of all 
kinds, neurotic conditions, neurasthenia, in its manifold 
forms, sometimes border very closely upon true mental aber- 
rations. The degeneration and inhibition of motor expres- 
sion with a resultant breaking down of mental activity, such 
as we observe in incipient adolescent insanity, or dementia 
praecox, may be mentioned as typifying a more radical and 
permanent derangement occasionally to be found among our 
youth. The prevalence of nervous disorders in our times 
has led many to believe that they are becoming an increasing 
menace to our civilization and should be stamped out. There 
may be a difference of opinion on this point. But the author 
is inclined to agree with an editorial writer in the "Medical 
Record" who says: "There can be no doubt that if neurotics 
never married, in the course of time diseases of the nervous 
system would greatly lessen and probably die out; and it 
may also be true that a world peopled with phlegmatic, thick- 
skinned mediocrities would be happier, in a sense. But the 
question may here be asked : Do we want to be without our 
neurotics or can we get along without them? If history be 
ransacked, it will be found that most of the great deeds of 
the world have been performed by individuals of an highly 
sensitive, nervous temperament. The contention too that 
the thick-skinned mediocrities are the happiest persons is 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 289 

open to doubt. If a more or less animal life is the end to be 
gained, then they may; but at the same time the fact ought 
to be borne in mind that, while they never descend into the 
depths of misery, like the being with the ill-strung nervous 
system, yet, on the other hand, they are incapable of exper- 
iencing many of the delightful emotions and of ascending into 
the heavens of joy, as are the neurotics." 

Insanity proper is a disease which befalls its victims after 
periods of health. In this and in the following point does it 
differ essentially from idiocy which is largely congenital. 
Idiocy is an all round mental imbecility, the idiots savants 
notwithstanding, while insanity unbalances the mind with- 
out necessarily destroying the mental faculty. Many inmates 
of our asylums will astonish us by their rational mentality 
within the limits imposed upon them by their disease; some 
exhibit a really remarkable genius; and indeed, the relation 
of insanity to genius has often occupied and puzzled the mind 
of many a psychologist. On the other hand, it is often diffi- 
cult to determine where rational mentality ends and insanity 
begins. 

Some have maintained that all these children who are 
classed among the "minor mental abnormalities", and, in fact, 
all persons who deviate in any manner from the normal type 
have a touch of insanity in their mental or moral constitution. 
Certainly they represent the borderland of mental health and 
psychosis, and call for the most earnest attention and con- 
sideration of parents, teachers, and physicians. There are a 
large number of "exceptional" children, those who are pe- 
culiar or defective in some way, and require conscientious 
observation and adequate handling. 

A very thorough study of these cases and their history and 
philosophy will be amply repaid by the resultant greater 
facility in solving problems of discipline. Details cannot 
here be given. Generally a distinction is made between 
moral, mental, and physical defects. This is, however, an 
artificial distinction ; mental and moral abnormalities go hand 
in hand with, and are essentially conditioned by, disturbances 
in the higher associations which lead to organized thinking 
and self-control ; and not infrequently physical defects lead 



2 9 o THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

to apparent mental and moral derangements. Captain 
Charles E. Woodruff, assistant surgeon, United States Army, 
had a most instructive article in the Philadelphia Medical 
Journal for April 7, 1900, on the use of alcohol by our 
soldiers in the tropics, in the course of which he mentions the 
terrible nervous exhaustion that results from long exposure 
to heat and moisture; this exhaustion of the nervous tissue, 
he asserts, produces a temporary craving for alcohol precisely 
similar to that of many periodical or chronic drunkards or to 
the craving of certain degenerates among tramps, beggars, 
and criminals, who are in a condition of congenital nervous 
exhaustion unfitting them for work, and whose periodical 
orgies are proverbial. 

Lying, disorder, disobedience, sexual aberrations, etc., may 
often be traced to bodily causes. Truants of the degenerate 
type are found to be defective in sight, hearing, growth, etc. 
Eye defects of various kinds, nasal troubles, catarrhs, adenoid 
vegetations, etc., are frequent causes of mental and moral 
derangements, epilepsy, neurasthenia, and similar disturb- 
ances. 

Troubles of digestion are a frequent source in children, 
of what is called persistent ideas, of anxiety, fear, irritation, 
bordering on temporary insanity. The child does not really 
know or understand what is the matter with him, but is 
obstinate and ugly. Mistaken strictness in such cases will 
produce very deplorable results. We may also be reminded 
of the night-terrors of many children which have their origin 
generally in digestive disturbances. Even temporary ailments 
in boys and girls (in the case of the latter particularly the 
monthly periods) will occasionally lead to mental and moral 
disorders. 

In the discussion on the troublesome child in school, Super- 
intendent Lowther made these remarks: "One day a boy 
came to my office with a note from his teacher saying that the 
bearer had become so obnoxious that it was impossible to 
allow him to remain in the room. He was idle, noisy, inat- 
tentive, obstinate, impudent, and perhaps a score of other 
misdemeanors could be charged to his account. My investi- 
gation developed the surprising facts that he was subject to 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 291 

violent fits of headache, that he had some form of catarrh, 
that he was almost blind in one eye, and that his hearing in 
one ear was defective. He admitted that at times he felt per- 
fectly miserable. Poor, afflicted boy! No wonder he grew 
discouraged as he saw his inability to measure up with his 
classmates! His teacher, ignorant of his defects, held him 
responsible for all the work. He became despondent, morose, 
distrustful of his teacher, finally disliking her and charging 
maltreatment as a cause for his misconduct. Evidently the 
first duty of a teacher on observing a peculiarity in a child, is 
to study the cause." 

That ignorant and vicious methods of education at home 
and in school will "spoil" children, morally, and mentally, is 
too well known to require special mention. Many a home, 
not only in the poorer classes by any means, forms the worst 
imaginable environment for a child. The only child in 
families where there are over-refinement and undue nervous 
tension offers a fruitful field of investigation. But there are 
cases of genuine defectiveness. Says Professor Allen M. 
Starr:* "There is an inherent activity in the brain of a child 
which leads to thought and soon to actions and speech; yet 
there are children who never get to the point of definite 
purposeful activity. Such children are usually in constant 
motion, but their movements have no object. . . . 

"Another type of child far less defective is not uncommonly 
seen, who has nevertheless failed to reach that point of de- 
velopment which is evidenced by the power of self control, 
. . . lapsing into a state of apathy and mental inertia 
. . . incapable of arousing (itself) to effort. This is 
not laziness — it is an inherent mental defect. . . . That 
self-control is the highest quality of mind is evident from the 
fact that the first evidences of mental deterioration is seen in 
a beginning failure of this power." 

Lack of veracity in children may sometimes be due to de- 
fective associations — a defectiveness which leads to illusions 
and hallucinations. It has been shown that there is a physi- 



*Some Curiosities of Thinking, Popular Science Monthly, 
April, 1895. 



292 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

cal basis of precocity and dullness. Dullness may be only 
apparent and, as has been indicated elsewhere, an effect of a 
slower rate of development or a longer reaction time. "Dull 
and backward children", says F. M. Powell, (Backward and 
Mentally Deficient Children, Child Study Monthly, I, 9) 
"varying in degrees of mental torpidity, ... are sub- 
jects requiring distinct methods of stimulation to unfold 
intellects hidden within their tardy cell structure. There 
are many factors, both physical and psychical, causing the 
semblance of mental dullness ; in the former the cell structure 
of the brain tissue develops slowly during the plastic period, 
maturing later than the average, but when fully developed 
under favorable environment, they often rank with the strong- 
est minds. It has been so in the past and will be so in the 
future. . . . Webster, Beecher and Frobel were of 
this class. Also I may mention Linnaeus, Volta, Burns, Bal- 
zac, Edison and Scott as dullards in youth. . . . This 
class of individuals is not deficient, but ripens late in life." 
The same author states that a commission appointed by the 
British government to investigate the condition of 100,000 
school children in Great Britain report seven per cent, as 
being mentally dull. 

Real stupidity is a great affliction deserving of our most 
ready sympathy. "Natural stupidity is some form of mental 
weakness, or the child's mind may grow very slowly, or its 
growth may be temporarily arrested, or there may be great 
disproportion in the development of its various faculties, or it 
may inherit the induced or natural stupidity of its parents. 
It may be the stupidity of the poor drudge, prematurely de- 
prived of its right to grow and play in freedom by the needs 
of life, stupid descendant of down-trodden human beings 
who, age after age, have but one hope and one aim, to keep 
body and soul together by unremitting toil; or, again, the 
stupid child of gifted parents, sad, strange stupidity where 
the parents seem to have exhausted all their intellectual force 
in themselves and have nothing left to bequeath ; or what is 
called natural stupidity may be nothing of the kind — only in 
nine cases out of ten a misinterpretation of some outward 
signs misinterpreted by the stupidity of the people who deal 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 293 

with it. ... The natural tendency of schoolmas- 
ters is to condemn as stupid the child who is dull in things 
scholastic. Life often reverses the schoolmaster's verdict, and 
shows that the so-called dullness was intelligence which had 
not yet found its proper channel." (Emily Miall, The 
Stupid Child, Educational Foundations, December, 1897.) 

If we are to deal intelligently with all these cases of seem- 
ing or real mental defectiveness, we must first of all resist 
all promptings toward impatience and vindictiveness, and 
assume the attitude of sympathetic investigators and ration- 
al friends and helpers. Truly says Dr. W. Xavier Sudduth 
(Nervous and Backward Children, Child Study Monthly, 
1898) : "The old ideas of viciousness still obtain in regard to 
the milder forms of mental perversion. Lying, stealing, and 
kleptomania, from a biological standpoint, are the outcrop — 
being of purely natural instincts, commendable in a pure state 
of nature ( ? G) — but greatly to be deplored in our pres- 
ent state of civilization. If my premise is correct it seems to 
me that the rationale of treatment does not lie in harsh, un- 
sympathetic measures of condemnation, in which the mo- 
tives of the individual are impugned, but in a careful sys- 
tem of education looking toward the moral, intellectual, and 
physical upbuilding of a child." 

It is impossible of course to give here detailed prescriptions 
for the treatment of these cases. Individual adjustment is 
the prime virtue in respect to it. In many cases it is merely 
a question of right nutrition, cleanliness and fresh air. A 
very telling example is told by Miss Jane Addams, in the 
Annual of the American Academy of Political and Social 
Science, as follows: "Permit me to illustrate from a group 
of Italian women who bring their underdeveloped children 
several times a week to Hull House for sanitary treatment, 
under the direction of a physician. It has been possible to 
teach some of these women to feed their children oatmeal in- 
stead of tea-soaked bread, but it has been done, not by state- 
ment at all, but by a series of gay little Sunday morning 
breakfasts given to a group of them in the Hull House Nur- 
sery. A nutritious diet was thus substituted for an inferior 
one by a social method. At the same time it was found that 



294 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

certain of the women hung bags of salt about their children's 
necks to keep off the evil eye, which was supposed to give the 
children crooked legs at first, and in the end to cause them 
to waste away. The salt-bags gradually disappeared under 
the influences of baths and cod-liver oil. In short, rhachitis 
was skillfully arrested, and without mentioning that disease 
was caused not by the evil eye, but by lack of cleanliness and 
nutrition, and without passing thru the intermediate belief 
that disease was sent by Providence, the women form a little 
center for the intelligent care of children, which is making 
itself felt in the Italian colony. Knowledge was ap- 
plied in both cases, but scarcely as the statistician would have 
applied it." 

A rational method of life and tonic treatment in general 
will do much toward redeeming deficient children. The 
stimulus of wholesome and interesting work thru which 
a concentration of attention can be effected will do wonders. 
Sense-training and manual work have been shown to 
be particularly helpful in this direction; in fact, they have 
been the only means in many cases to effect a regeneration. Dr. 
Seguin says physiological training advocates that "the educa- 
tion of the senses must precede the education of the mind" 
and the true physiological methods of instruction for those 
whose nervous system is imperfectly developed are "to exer- 
cise the imperfect organs so as to develop the functions"; 
and, second "to train the functions so as to develop the imper- 
fect organs." Dr. Fernald says: "As compared with the ed- 
ucation of normal children, it is a difference of degree and 
not of kind." 

Hypnotic suggestion has also been applied with much suc- 
cess in the case of perverse mentality, persistent ideas, moral 
aberrations, etc. Individual methods, of course, are the only 
ones that promise satisfactory results. It is, therefore, and 
also for the sake of normal children, absolutely necessary 
that the defectives be, at least temporarily, if you will, re- 
moved from the regular classes and educated in special 
classes and special schools. 

Professor Monroe of Stanford University obtained data 
relating to 10,000 pupils in California schools, finding ten 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 295 

per cent, mentally dull and three per cent, feeble-minded. He 
states that there are many children in public schools who 
could be more economically and wisely trained in schools 
adapted to their special needs, and remarks "There are many 
more who altho not positively feeble-minded, skirt the bord- 
erland of abnormality, and because of their large numbers — 
nearly ten per cent, of the whole public school enrollment — 
should receive the thoughtful attention of teachers and spec- 
ialists." (Quoted in Child Study Monthly, March, 1896). 

Very valuable and instructive is Mr. George Dawson's 
Study in Youthful Degeneracy. (Pedagogical Seminary, 
IV, 2.) He found that compared with the normal standard 
the general health of the delinquent children he studied was 
poor. In height, weight, girth of chest, strength of grip, 
they were also inferior to the normal type. Later the author 
speaks of "the neurotic character of many of the delin- 
quents. . . . 

"The fact that the prevailing criminal face is unusually 
broad suggests that the typical delinquent may either not 
have outgrown the infantile characteristics of his own race, 
or that he may tend to revert to a lower race altogether." 
He mentions many physical anomalies as indicating degen- 
eration. "They are out of harmony with their environ- 
ments; and are, far more than is usually appreciated, incapa- 
ble of meeting the demands of a civilization that exists only 
by assimilating the good and eliminating the bad." And 
with regard to the unredeemable portion of these unfortu- 
nates, Dawson remarks: "The curative method, however, 
sure and satisfactory it may be in many cases, falls short of 
meeting all the requirements. There is a residuum of bad 
cases that cannot be gotten rid of thru physical, intellectual 
or moral discipline. The fate of an evil destiny is upon them. 
. . . Society has not yet learned to supplement cure 
with prevention. It quarantines its communities or famil- 
ies infected by disease; it takes advantage of every known 
prophylactic to prevent the onslaught or advancement of 
small-pox or yellow-fever; but it throws no quarantine about 
its plague-spots of vice and crime; it destroys no germs of 
immorality thru disinfection. . . . Like the man 



296 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

in the allegory, it is chained to a corpse whose dissolution 
must make civilization itself sick unto death." 

Isolation — permanent isolation — is the only measure pos- 
sible in these cases. 

It goes without saying that in classes or schools for 
defectives only such teachers should be employed who 
have made a particular and conscientious study of their 
peculiarities and needs. But there are so many different 
grades of defectiveness — such a fine shading into degeneracy 
proper on one hand, and into normal mental health on the 
other — and so many will never be recognized in their true 
condition without intelligent and sympathetic observation in 
the regular school classes that every teacher of children should 
make it his duty to keep eyes and heart open to reach out to 
these unhappy creatures and to lift them up to higher levels 
of mentality and morality if possible. 

Professor Josiah Royce, the eminent Harvard philosopher, 
published a contribution to the knowledge of mental dis- 
orders and defects from the teacher's point of view, in the 
Educational Review for October and December, 1893, from 
which these helpful and inspiring passages are cited: "There 
is no mental disease that is not also a nervous disease . . . 
Your ideal must be here to get a real, or close, a truly psy- 
chological insight into this possibly deranged mental mechan- 
ism. You must come not now any longer as disciplinarian, 
but quite sincerely as friend, as humane man offering help 
to a younger brother in distress. . . . You must be a 
true naturalist, and study this live creature, as a biologist 
would study cell growth under the microscope, or as a 
pathologist would minutely examine diseased tissues. In or- 
der to study, you must, of course, love. Minds and their 
processes must be delightful things in your eyes. . . . 
Intolerance and impatience have absolutely no place in such 
a scrutiny. You must fear nothing. You will be very tender 
with the sanctities of youthful feeling; but if in the course 
of your scrutiny, a poor heart gets open to you and you find 
it a very evil heart indeed, you will never show, yes, if you 
are wise, you will very seldom feel any contempt." 

The words of Principal E. H. Russel of the Worcester, 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 297 

Mass., Normal School, will fitly close this chapter: 

"It is a wholesome and helpful thing for a teacher to feel 
that all her pupils are exceptional children — which, indeed, 
in a deep sense is always true." 

To the physician, in conclusion, the advice should be giv- 
en to seek in all cases of this description the counsel and co- 
operation of the educator and psychologist who, in his turn, 
will act wisely by combining his efforts with those of the phy- 
sician so as to establish perfect harmony between the vari- 
ous curative forces whose help is needed in the treatment of 
defectives for a further study of this subject in the light 
of newer investigations, of the publications of the National 
Association for the Study and Education of Exceptional Chil- 
dren, Plainfield, N. J.; of the Research Department of the 
Training School, Vineland, N. J., etc. 



CHAPTER XIX 

Criminality in Children 

I. AS TO CAUSES 

THE warfare against sin and crime is as old as the 
race. Yet the victory of virtue over the powers 
of evil is still but a beautiful dream. The rack, 
the gallows, and the executioner's axe, the prison 
and the torture-chamber, and the multitude of 
solemn judges, grave juries and of the less dignified beadles 
and jailers, which have for so many centuries been employed 
in the fierce and merciless struggle against Sin, by what is 
commonly called the administration of justice, have not 
succeeded in exterminating her. She triumphs now as ever. 
Some of our opinions as to what is right or wrong have 
changed somewhat in the course of ages ; but wrong itself still 
exists. 

Will this go on forever? The philosophy of pessimism 
answers "Yes." "We may," says Schopenhauer, "demon- 
strate to the egoist that he can gain large profits by fore- 
going small gains; to the malicious, that causing pain to 
others will bring suffering upon himself; but we can never 
hope to succeed in eliminating selfishness and malice, as 
little as we can ever persuade a cat to give up mousing. 
. . . We may enlighten the head, but the heart 
will remain untouched. That which is fundamental 
and fixed, in the province of morality, no less than in the 
intellect and the physical constitution, is born with us; edu- 
cational influences can only mitigate, never radically 
change."* 



*Die Kunst kann iiberall nur nachhelfen. 
298 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 299 

What Schopenhauer says is true enough; but is it the 
whole truth? 

The well known story of the painter's model may serve to 
illustrate a point in question. An Italian artist met with a 
child of exquisite beauty, and wished to preserve its features, 
for fear he should never see such loveliness again. So he 
painted the charming face upon canvas, and hung it upon 
the walls of his studio. In his most sombre hours that sweet, 
gentle countenance was like an angel of light to him. Its 
presence filled his soul with the purest aspirations. "If ever 
I find," he said, "a perfect contrast to this beauteous face, I 
will paint that also, and hang them side by side, as ideals of 
heaven and hell." Years passed. At length, in a distant 
land, he saw, in a prison he visited, the most hideous object 
he ever gazed upon, — a fierce, haggard fiend, with glaring 
eyes, and cheeks deeply furrowed with lust and crime. The 
artist remembered his vow, and immediately painted a pic- 
ture of this loathsome form, to hang beside the lovely boy. 
The contrast was perfect. His dream was realized. What 
was the surprise of the artist, on inquiry into the history of 
this horrid wretch, to find that he was once that lovely boy! 
The demon had once been the angel : the innocent beginning 
and the sad ending of a tragic romance of life.* 

Was this evolution inevitable? Is Schopenhauer right in 
maintaining that education could only have mitigated, but 
never changed, this course? Was the angel predestined to 
degenerate into a demon, to end his life as a convict? 

There are three explanations of the apparent change: was 
there a mistake in the first judgment? The boy's face was 
that of an angel, the artist thought. What do we call angelic? 
Features that are merely beautiful, regular, and bewitching 
in outline? Blue eyes, rosy cheeks, ringlets of golden hair? 
Is an expressionless face angelic? A child's face looks un- 
touched, undisturbed, inexperienced, so to say. It may 
move us because of this very absence of character, when we 
think of what furrows time and sorrow will engrave on this 
velvety skin. But does such an untouched face imply that 



*Cf. John W. Kramer. The Right Road. 



300 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

behind it there dwells an angelic soul ? Indeed not ; a child's 
is an untried soul; his possibilities are as yet unawakened. 
It requires a knowledge of human nature rather than a mere 
enjoyment of childish beauty to understand a child. For the 
development of an angelic character, there is often need of a 
long life of trials and self-conquest. The features of a ripe 
old man or woman may be more truly angelic than those of a 
budding child. Or were there bad influences — an unwhole- 
some environment — which ruined an originally well-disposed 
heart? Or, is it possible that a good child, endowed with 
fine qualities of character, can suddenly change and become a 
different being, as it were? We may find that such reverses 
are not infrequent during the pubescent period, when atavis- 
tic traits are apt to manifest themselves and to alter the 
course of a child's life. 

These questions, however, indicate plainly in what manner 
alone we can hope to gain an insight into the nature of crim- 
inality, to wit, by investigating the causes and influences that 
make for crime. Psychology and anthropology must be our 
guides; they prove that the thing needful is not so much a 
strict penal system for the punishment of offenders, as cura- 
tive measures for the extirpation of defects which, under the 
now existing social conditions, appear as criminal tendencies, 
but were not so considered in past ages; defects which in- 
dicate, in the majority of cases, arrested or impaired develop- 
ment. 

In one sense, crime is an anomalous condition — a degenera- 
tion of the perfect type; a disease of the mind, which has very 
distinct symptoms and causes. On the other hand, the crim- 
inal class represents an undeveloped or underdeveloped type, 
one that has not kept pace with the normal evolution of the 
race — a savage condition of the mind. Criminals of this class 
belong to a social stratum which has never been reached by 
the progresss of civilization; whose psychic development had 
come to a standstill many generations ago, or who are con- 
tinually lagging behind. By investigating the causes of these 
two conditions — the pathological type and the savage type — 
we shall better understand the real nature of criminality. 

The two great factors that determine our existence are 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 301 

heredity and environment. They also affect our moral life. 
Environment includes all those elements that influence us 
after birth, of which example and education are the most 
powerful. 

There is, then, first the criminal by heredity. There may 
either be a direct transmission of criminal tendencies, or 
merely a transmission of degenerative traits which may de- 
velop into criminality in the children, even tho the parents 
were otherwise defective. 

Little doubt is entertained at present that there is such a 
thing as criminal neurosis, i. e., a transmissible constitutional 
condition of the nervous system which prevents the develop- 
ment of a wholesome moral sentiment, of will power, and 
of self-control. We may be reminded of the well known 
Juke family. The progeny of five sisters consisted of 540 
individuals; of these, 76 per cent, were criminals, 20 per 
cent, paupers; only 4 per cent, were not a burden to society. 
Another criminal woman, studied by Dr. Elisha Harris, had 
623 descendants; among them two hundred criminals, the 
others mostly drunkards, idiots, paupers, and prostitutes. 
Up to 1883, of all the girls admitted to the Michigan In- 
dustrial Home for Girls, one-seventh had insanity in their 
parentage; one-third had criminality, and two-thirds had 
intemperance in their parentage. This shows what a fatal 
role intemperance plays in the production of criminal neu- 
rosis, or at least of general degeneration. 

G. E. Dawson, in his valuable study of youthful degen- 
eracy,* arrives at this conclusion : "Crime, insanity, idiocy, 
pauperism. . . . happen as virtue, health, intelligence, 
and prosperity happen, because some antecedent conditions 
have produced them." 

There is, then, a criminal class, and among them, there 
are such individuals who are incurable and irredeemable, from 
whom the dependent and criminal classes are being constantly 
recruited. 

Of criminals born from criminals there are relatively few. 
More numerous are the representatives of an indirect crim- 



*Pedagogical Seminary, IV, I, p. 225. 



302 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

inal heredity. Thus we have criminals born from intem- 
perates, paupers, defectives of all kinds. Their abnormality 
is due to a mind inherited by them, which is infested with 
inherent weakness, containing unstable elements. But even 
these unfortunates are not in many cases criminal from birth. 
Accessory factors are needed to develop in them true crim- 
inality. In other words, there is some weakness or defect 
present which makes these individuals less effective and po- 
tentially criminal, but always more or less dependent. 

Intellectual weakness is a frequent symptom indicating 
also moral weakness, and it has been observed that intellect- 
ually abnormal children incline to criminal offenses. Weak- 
ness of the mind involves an insufficient grasp of the relation 
of cause and effect — a feeble comprehension of consequences; 
it marks an undeveloped, animal type. Idiocy has been called 
an atavistic backsliding into savagery — closely related to 
criminality, i. e., to manifestations which in reference to our 
state of civilization appear criminal, while they were per- 
fectly normal at the savage stage. Investigations have es- 
tablished the fact that idiocy is pre-eminently a hereditary 
phenomenon, the following hereditary causes having been 
pointed out: (i) Neurosis in the family of one or both par- 
ents; (2) Intemperance in the family of one or both 
parents; (3) Excessive strain (by physical or mental labor, 
or worry) on the part of the mothers; also their lack of prep- 
aration, physical, mental and moral, for motherhood. 

The point mentioned last is especially significant as it is 
only too often disregarded. M. A. Pinard* testified to the 
greater influence of the mother in the determination of the 
future well-being of the child. Landor says, "Children are 
what their mothers are." E. W. Bohannon, in his investiga- 
tions of peculiar and exceptional children,* comes to this 
conclusion : "The influence of the mother in transmitting pe- 
culiarities is greater than that of the father, is greater for 
girls than for boys, and about equal to that of the father for 
boys." The mother represents the conservative, type-pre- 



*Pedagogical Seminary, IV, 1, p. 50. 
*Pedagogical Seminary, IV, 1, p. 3. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 303 

serving element; man the variable element — for better or 
for worse — in the reproductive process. But how often is 
not a girl's preparation and fitness for motherhood problemat- 
ical; how often is not her body debilitated by overwork or 
overstimulation of some kind, her nervous system depleted, 
her mind superficial and frivolous — how often is not the 
lot of woman, especially in the poorer classes, that of a 
drudge who almost succumbs under the pressure of her man- 
ifold burdens and duties. This wretched condition is re- 
sponsible for much of the idiocy, or at least some sort of de- 
ficiency, observable in the offspring. 

Researches based upon data on a large number of children 
possessing peculiar traits have shown beyond doubt that phy- 
sical, moral, and mental deficiencies are intimately related 
to one another, being largely due to causes and influences 
which date back into remote family history. For, as is well 
known, it is not always our immediate progenitors from 
whom we inherit our peculiarities; the life-germ of an in- 
dividual is a compendium of his family tree with all its 
branches; it contains potential energy in manifold compo- 
sition and varying proportions of all the different elements 
which have been transmitted to our time from our ancestors. 
Indeed, we recapitulate, in a certain abbreviated form, dur- 
ing the years of embryonal life and childhood, our entire 
family history, from the dawn of human existence, in con- 
secutive culture-epochs; and in the same measure as the 
younger years reproduce the earliest stages of human civil- 
ization, we pass consecutively thru stages of greater dif- 
ferentiation — race, nation, kin, — and at the age of puberty, 
the family traits proper will assert themselves with especial 
vigor. It is not a rare occurrence that at this stage, all of 
a sudden as it may seem, new characteristic traits will crop 
out, an inheritance from this or that ancestor, probably long 
forgotten, and which may modify very materially the na- 
ture and course of the child. In consequence of such a con- 
stitutional revolution, we may then observe the unexpected 
appearance of an ancestral neurosis, i. e., of a defect based 
upon an inherited weakness which only now reveals itself 
and which may eventually lead to crime. 



3o 4 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

While we are, to a certain extent, helpless in dealing with 
the effects of a decidedly criminal heredity, a consideration 
of the factor of environment presents a much more hopeful 
case. And yet, as things are, it is a chapter of intense human 
misery and wretchedness which we now enter upon and which 
must be studied with the most serious attention. 

In reviewing the life conditions of children who develop 
criminal tendencies, we find, as was stated in the beginning, 
that the dependent classes are the main source of crime. 
Even if children should escape the burden of hereditary in- 
fluences, there are factors in their environment which tend 
to affect their development abnormally. Evidently we must 
admit that criminality is in a large measure the product of 
social conditions. 

Dr. Bayard Holmes* says: "The greater portion of our 
defective classes acquire their defects after birth, either 
thru (i) improper environment, (2) thru disease, (3) 
thru the machinery of society and industry." One who 
knows the wretchedness of life conditions which are the 
portion of so many thousands of our fellowmen will under- 
stand and appreciate this assertion. Dawson, in his study of 
youthful degenerates, quoted above, says: "Nearly 58 per 
cent, of the boys and 46 per cent, of the girls come from poor 
homes, that is to say homes in which poverty and drunkenness 
were the rule. Twenty-three per cent, of the boys and 30 per 
cent, of the girls appear to have had no regular home at all. 
They either were inmates of public or private institutions or 
they were practically vagrants. The most of the cases had 
poor educational advantages, either because of parental or 
social neglect. Practically all of them had bad associates, and 
were allowed to run the streets in idleness." The average 
industrial or reform school does not seem to have a good 
showing in these figures. Dawson continues: "The first ele- 
ments to be noticed in the early surroundings of these delin- 
quent children are the poverty and improvidence of the par- 
ents. These things mean improper and insufficient food in 
infancy and childhood. ... If the children of immoral 



*Child Study Monthly, October, 1895. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 305 

and improvident parents suffer from semi-starvation physi- 
cally, much more do they suffer from intellectual starvation. 
Mental growth is not favored by conditions that constantly 
tend to impair physical vitality, by irregular attendance at 
school, or by general parental or social neglect to supply in- 
centive and stimulus. As regards morality, the disadvantages 
of bad environments are equally obvious. Whether moral 
sensitiveness be regarded as innate or as a development like 
any other quality of mind, it depends for its fullest and best 
expression upon circumstances. In the language of Strahan, 
'As surely as the blush of health fades before starvation and 
disease, so does moral loveliness fade in the presence of vice 
and degradation.' A man of large experience in dealing with 
delinquents recently said to the writer, 'Perhaps there are 
some people who would be moral under any circumstances, 
and others who would be immoral under any circumstances; 
but most people are moral or immoral as circumstances make 
them so.' " 

Who will dare to refute this assertion? "Judge not, that 
ye be not judged!" Who will ever sound the human heart 
to its deepest depths? Can anyone among us boast of never 
having felt the promptings of evil? He that is without sin 
among us, let him first cast a stone at the unhappy creatures 
whose childhood was a curse and a martyrdom, and who 
may end their luckless lives in a prison cell. It is so easy, in 
a cozy home, surrounded by love and care, or at the joyous 
feast of plenty, to forget the hungry and shivering and to be 
hypocritically scandalized over the fallen. 

There are three main adversaries of virtue that are con- 
stantly at work attacking the walls of righteousness and 
breaking down its ramparts, so that crime may triumphantly 
enter thru the gap; (1) insufficient nutriment, (2) fatigue, 
(3) disease. 

These physical causes of evil are often the effect of the life 
conditions of the unfortunate classes; but they are also not 
infrequent guests in the homes of the well-to-do. 

Proper nutrition is a much more essential factor in the 
well-being of children (no less than of adults) than most peo- 
ple suppose. The preacher in the pulpit, the teacher in the 
school, have no surer determinative influence upon the ethical 



306 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

development of our national life than has the cook in the 
kitchen. And yet the "new woman" fancies household duties 
to be beneath her dignity and just about good enough for 
menials and slaves. The hearth was sacred to our ancestors ; 
it ought to remain a sacred place in every home to our chil- 
dren and children's children. Not only is a man's heart most 
safely reached thru his stomach, as the saying has it, but 
the welfare, the mental and moral salvation of the children, 
of the generations to come, depends very largely upon rational 
nutrition. The French physician, Dr. F. Hallager, in "De 
la Nature de l'Epilepsie," maintains that epilepsy is anaemia 
and that lack of nutrition is a potent irritation. The capacity 
for normal mental work is determined in a large measure 
by the character and quantity of food. There is certainly 
much malnutrition in the homes of the poor. Poverty is only 
one cause among others of this deplorable condition ; igno- 
rance and improvidence do the rest. 

But, as Prof. M. V. O'Shea says: "It happens frequently 
in the homes of the well-to-do, where the expense can have 
nothing to do with the matter, that the children are permitted 
to live almost wholly upon those foods which seem to delight 
the palate, as cookies and cakes in a variety of forms, but 
which contain relatively little nutrition, the principal in- 
gredient being starch in the form of wheat flour. It is often 
the practice to begin in the early months of a child's life to 
feed it highly seasoned and sweet foods, thus establishing an 
appetite which later is not satisfied with the simple nourishing 
meats, grains, or milk. . . . Albumin is brain food. . . . 
In the poorer homes, in our cities particularly, many are 
unwise in the expenditure of what money they can spare for 
food, purchasing mainly starchy foods, which, altho of 
relatively little value anyway, are yet more suited for the 
adult engaged in out-of-door labor, than for a child at mental 
work in school."* 

It needs to be emphasized that it is not advisable to give 
children the same fare as the adult. The needs of children 



*"When Character is Formed." Appleton's Popular Science 
Monthly, Sept., '97. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 307 

are essentially different from those of their parents. Here is 
a fruitful field of study for the conscientious mother, much 
more important and momentous than the study of Greek in 
"ladies' colleges." It is a study, too, requiring a high degree 
of common sense, science, and art. What is needed is not the 
filling of the stomach with an indifferent mass of palatable 
dainties, but the provision of really nourishing substances 
such as are needed to build up the tissues consumed by the life 
process in the various activities pertaining to human exist- 
ence and development. Insufficient nutrition, while interfer- 
ing seriously with normal mental activity, also produces 
moral defects. "That imperfect nutrition is the cause of 
much of that emotional estrangement in childhood which is 
called irritability, ugliness, viciousness, or something of that 
sort, has been satisfactorily evidenced to the writer as the 
result of a number of observations which he has been able to 
make upon young children."* 

These morbid symptoms disappear as soon as rational nu- 
trition is provided. 

The pitiful conditions which are the lot of the pariahs of 
society, which prevail among the children who work in 
factories and coal mines, in shops and stores, as newsboys or 
bootblacks, — who suffer from chronic fatigue and overwork 
— are well enough known. Fatigue is caused by a variety 
of causes, among which, indeed, malnutrition must again be 
enumerated, so that this first mentioned enemy of virtue is 
doubly dangerous. There are, however, a number of other 
hygienic causes active at home, in school, wherever we are: 
lack of the proper amount of light and air, of order and 
cleanliness, of warmth and comfort, of rest and recreation, 
as well as of moderate diversion and amusement: and, fur- 
thermore, those numerous overstimulations of overtaxa- 
tions which are characteristic of the modern rush and bustle 
of life, even in the so-called "best" classes — in the salons and 
academies, at theatres, restaurants, and ball-rooms, and in 
a thousand ways. Many children, from whatever cause, 
are really in a more or less chronic state of fatigue all or 



*0'Shea, loc. cit. 



308 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

most of the time, and there are not a few adults, too, who 
can keep themselves on their feet in the mad rush of busi- 
ness or professional duties, only by resorting to artificial stim- 
ulation. None of these are normal, and of "tonics" there 
are untold numbers. Fatigue, it has been shown, produces a 
relapse into the animal method of reasoning, or rather non- 
reasoning; it interferes with the keenness and integrity of 
the intellectual processes; the memory becomes halting and 
uncertain, and reason grows illogical and erratic. 

As pointed out before, fatigue is often the result of over- 
stimulation. Such overstimulation begins not infrequently 
in the nursery, when mothers are ignorant of the simplest laws 
of nursery hygiene. "Infants of a few months as well as 
children of maturer years are permitted to be in the presence 
of the older members of the family much of the time. Guests 
always expect to see the baby, to hold it and to stimulate it 
in all sorts of ways to see how prettily and intelligently it 
reacts. . . . Few people seem to appreciate how such 
treatment taxes the nervous strength of an infant. . . . 
The young child with its fresh, innocent ways, is not infre- 
quently regarded as a plaything for the entertainment of its 
elders, and so is teased and tormented in all sorts of ways 
because its response is so novel and interesting. . . . 
The evil effects of overstimulation are evident also in the at- 
tempts of parents and teachers to hasten as rapidly as possible 
the intellectual development of the children under their 
care. * 

Many parents consider it perfectly legitimate to make 
the children recite, sing, and perform on the slightest pro- 
vocation for the friends and visitors of the family, or to "show 
off" at more or less public entertainments, without special 
care that pedagogical and hygienic precautions be not neg- 
lected. It is a common practice, too, especially among the 
poorer classes, to take young children to various public 
places and make them stay up late, and go home, or be car- 
ried home, in a more or less sleepy condition, at dead of 
night, in crowded and ill-ventilated public conveyances. Few 



*0'Shea, loc. cit. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 309 

mothers consider it their solemn duty rather to forego for a 
time such amusements than to expose their tender babes to 
the evil effects of such educational and hygienic transgres- 
sions. The consequences, common as they are, are pitiably 
serious. 

During the various critical periods of the child's life, of 
which there are at least three, hygienic neglect and over- 
stimulation are fraught with particular danger. This is 
especially true of the period of pubescence and adolescence. 
Physical neglect, caused by ignorance and false modesty, is 
apt to breed untold sufferings, to impair the equilibrium of 
the nervous system, and health and strength generally, and 
to result finally in the ruin of thousands of constitutions, 
particularly of girls. Again, impairment of health predis- 
poses for all kinds of deviations from the code of morals. 
Concerning the hygiene of the pubertal period, much enlight- 
enment is still needed. Adolescence is an epoch in the life 
of every young person that requires the most careful and in- 
telligent treatment; it is a time when old and narrow modes 
of thought are broken up and old ideas are being revised; 
when the flexibility of the mind, resulting from a peculiar de- 
velopment of the brain occurring at this time, promotes the 
formations of new associations and ideals. Out of the ruins 
of unconscious childhood, there rises the new personality, the 
consciousness of independent thought and power. The ripe 
fruit severs itself from the parent tree and begins its indi- 
vidual life. This process is often painful; it may cause 
friction and unhappiness for both parent and child, and 
sometimes leads to an outspoken rebellion against once re- 
spected and revered authority and order. From the chaos 
of contending emotions, there emerges an individual charac- 
ter. This is the age when the young man (or woman) be- 
comes aware of the tremendous variety of life possibilities — 
when he tries many of these, and finally chooses those that 
fit his individuality best; and these will become his perma- 
nent possessions and activities. In this confusion of ideas 
and inspirations, the straight and even path is sometimes 
lost sight of, and there appear symptoms of seeming moral 
trespasses which, tho not always of a very serious im- 



310 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

port, nevertheless require the strictest attention of the edu- 
cator. Truth and falsehood are at times confused in these 
young struggling souls; especially young girls of this age 
are frequently given to untruthfulness and prevarication 
without apparent cause or reason. Even in otherwise per- 
fectly normal children of this age, we may come across dis- 
tinctly criminal tendencies. Says Tolstoi in his autobiogra- 
phy: "I have read somewhere that children between twelve 
and fourteen years of age are especially apt to become mur- 
derers and incendiaries. When I recall my own adoles- 
cence (and the state of mind I was in one day), I can under- 
stand the incentive to the most dreadful crimes committed 
without aim or purpose, without any precise idea to harm 
others — done simply out of curiosity, out of an unconscious 
need of action." And E. G. Lancaster states in his valua- 
ble treatise on "The Psychology and Pedagogy of Adoles- 
cence"*: "On the moral side there is a new and tremendous 
access of possibilities. The young person awakens to the 
fact that he can commit crimes of which he never dreamed 
before. There are numerous expressions of intense sur- 
prise at the awful thoughts of crime that go rushing thru 
the mind at this time." 

We tremble, in reading these statements, to picture to 
ourselves what the consequences would be if from some 
cause, the mental and moral development of adolescents, 
passing thru this stage, were checked, especially in the 
absence of educational advantages which could act as a cor- 
rective, so that this condition of their minds would become 
the permanent one thru life. Such things do occur — 
more frequently, indeed, than one cares to believe; and it 
is probably due to some form of arrested development dur- 
ing the pubertal age, or to some unchecked impulse to realize 
in action the demoniac promptings of adolescent fancy, that 
we have so large a percentage of criminals of adolescent age. 
Of 7,473 prisoners in France in 1885, under twenty-one 
years of age, there were 4,718 boys and 1,063 girls, or a 
total of 5,781 (77.36 per cent.) of children of from twelve 



*Pedagogical Seminary, V, 1. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 3 1 1 

to eighteen years of age. Out of 26,000 evildoers arrested 
in Paris in one year, 16,000 were less than twenty years of 
age.* I 

Fatigue is in the last instance a pathological phenomenon, 
and is often caused by disease, or will in its turn produce dis- 
eased conditions. Impaired health, as has been shown in the 
preceding paragraphs, is responsible for many abnormal symp- 
toms in the life of the soul, and modern child study has col- 
lected a great number of surprising data. Selfishness, for 
example, a common fault in children — and parents, — and 
which is a very evident stimulus for criminal tendencies, is in 
many instances occasioned by ill health, and will disappear as 
soon as a normal physical equilibrium is re-established. 

Certain diseases leave the body in a depleted and weakened 
condition of a very specific kind and which is the source of 
much intellectual and moral anomaly. Reference is here 
made to disorders of the visual and auditory centers. The 
percentage of children whose vision is abnormal or whose 
sense of hearing is more or less impaired, is surprisingly high. 
Upon perfect sense training, however, depends the possibility 
of reliable observation and conception ; and thus it becomes 
very plain that sense impediments must necessarily interfere 
with the normal intellectual development of the children. 
Soon we may observe graver disturbances — apparent indif- 
ference, disobedience, laziness, and a number of other seem- 
ingly moral defects.* If not speedily recognized, diagnosed, 
and cured, such phenomena may indeed lead to truly moral 
inefficiency. Helot shows that when these cases are cured, a 
large number of children are transformed, so to speak, both 
from a physical and a moral standpoint. Yet about twenty- 
five per cent, of all children suffer from defects of hearing, 
adenoid vegetations and the like alone. What a field for 
exact observation and curative measures! 

That these troubles are so wide-spread, is largely due to 
the almost criminal negligence with which even in educated 



*A. Corre, "Crime and Suicide." 

*Cf. "A Working System of Child Study for Schools," Grosz- 
mann, p. 32. 



312 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

families infectious diseases are handled, such as measles, 
scarlet fever, etc., which often leave these defects behind, 
tho the attack itself may have been mild. It requires the 
greatest amount of energy on the part of school and health 
authorities to guard against the spread of infection among the 
pupils of schools, in places of public amusement or meeting, 
in street cars and railroads, etc. Few care to be restricted in 
their personal liberty, and the danger of infection and the 
spread of disease germs is usually underrated. All these fac- 
tors, nevertheless, contribute to keeping the general health of 
the community on a low level, and to thus making possible a 
more or less universal, intellectual and moral inefficiency. 

Besides these more or less physical elements which influ- 
ence the child after birth, and aid in the determination of its 
future, we must consider the educational effect of the en- 
vironment. Educational effect is really caused by everything 
that surrounds the child ; and it is by example that the most 
powerful impressions are produced: the example of the per- 
sons who constitute his immediate society, no more than the 
example of the street where he spends the plastic years of his 
childhood; the example of parents, teachers, brothers, sisters, 
and schoolmates, of relatives and friends; the example of the 
milkman and the scrubbing woman, of the cook and the rail- 
road conductor; the example of the pictures which beautify 
his home, and that of the glaring posters which advertise 
theatrical performances or patent medicines; the example of 
the books and newspapers which are tolerated or cherished in 
the home, as well as of those which find an illegitimate way 
into his hands and interest. Even a very essential portion of 
the direct training at home and in school is a matter of ex- 
ample: the child is made to imitate what his elders do. The 
first potent factor in education is the imitativeness of children. 
Children possess surprisingly little logic; rationality and 
really independent opinions are the result of long experience 
and a vigorous adolescence. Imitation is one of the great 
means by which experience is obtained. Thus is shown the 
tremendous responsibility of parents and teachers, whose ex- 
ample rather than precept will work its way determinatively 
into the child's soul. The trouble is, that the child is apt to 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 313 

imitate what is pernicious as well as what is beneficial, being 
yet unable to discriminate. "Folly is always infectious; epi- 
demics of good sense are rare," says a German humorist. If 
we could only place our children in an environment where all 
examples make for righteousness! The millenium would 
then not be far away. But alas! we live in a world where 
deceit and duplicity have the upper hand ; where public and 
private administration and business are based largely upon 
falsehood ; where conventional lies mar even the sacred integ- 
rity of the home. How few of us are really frank toward one 
another ! 

And in such an atmosphere our children are brought up. 
We preach to them a sincerity and charity which we do not 
always practice. Dare we wonder when the carelessly scat- 
tered seed of evil takes root and sprouts forth in many an un- 
wary young soul? 

That children are imitative is a trite fact. And yet, few 
of us realize how very imitative they are. Wondrous tales 
may be told of the so-called suggestibility of childhood. We 
may be reminded of the influence of companions and chums, 
which is often much greater than that of the parent and 
teacher. Dawson, in his study of youthful degeneracy, quoted 
before, found that in the case of every boy and almost every 
girl, some chum, or several chums, had played a more or less 
important part in their lives. 

How necessary, then, is a careful supervision and guidance 
of our children — how essential it is that we eliminate from 
their environment as much of bad example as we can control, 
even tho it be at the sacrifice of our own convenience! 

The problem of right education, so that the product be 
an ethical character, is truly a difficult one. Much of urgent 
import can be said on this score. Our present so-called ed- 
ucational system deserves this name only in a very modest 
measure. It stimulates the intellect at the expense of char- 
acter; it develops shrewdness rather than wisdom. It im- 
plies more drill than development; it grafts upon the real 
nature of the child an artificial, conventional substance. Of- 
ten it conflicts with the most fundamental instincts, and 
thus causes an instability of character, a vacillation of will 



314 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

impulses, such as will become sadly manifest in moments of 
trial and temptation. Much in our present education is arti- 
ficial, mechanical, arbitrary; and its product is only too fre- 
quently a living, conventional lie. 

Thus we have a society wherein many factors co-operate 
to intercept the healthy growth of virtue, and to favor the 
development of moral defects and criminal tendencies. 

2. AS TO REMEDIES 

The case being thus stated, the question arises: What 
can be done to remedy the evil, to eradicate crime if this be 
at all possible ? Space will permit of only a few suggestions, 
such as are obvious from what has been said before. 

We ought to be settled in our mind about one sad fact, to 
begin with, viz. that there exists such a thing as a criminal 
class many members of which are practically unredeemable, 
and which a healthy society casts out as it casts out lepers, 
without, however, being justified in condemning them. The 
Italian criminologist and psychologist Lombroso has intro- 
duced the term "born criminals." A majority of imbeciles 
will forever remain public burdens, and a certain percentage, 
small but distinct, will never outgrow criminal tendencies. 

We may apply to this psychic phenomenon the general 
term "degeneration," remembering that we include two dis- 
tinct types under this term: the pathological type, and the 
savage type. Degeneration signifies a deviation from the 
normal type as it has been evolved thru the centuries of civ- 
ilizatory progress and differentiation ; such deviation natur- 
ally implies a lesser degree of stability and power of pro- 
creation. It means the loss of those hereditary qualities that 
have differentiated and fixed the characteristics of the race 
so that it attained permanency; and consequently a decreased 
capability of competition in the normal struggle for existence. 
Indeed, the unredeemably deficient would die out but for 
intermarriage with individuals of a more normal type, as 
sterility is a recognized effect of inherited deficiency. 

This suggests the desirability of a timely recognition, man- 
agement and isolation of the unredeemable by the agency of 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 315 

organized society. Isolation, however, must not be under- 
stood to mean punishment in this case any more than it is 
in the case of people suffering from infectious diseases. We 
may insist upon small-pox patients being isolated in special 
hospitals without desiring to brand the unfortunate inmates 
as outcasts, or connecting the idea of punishment with their 
confinement. The time will come, let us sincerely hope, 
when sin will be understood to mean misfortune; when 
moral defects will be treated like intellectual and physical 
defects: that is to say, as pathological cases, symptomatically, 
and not as punishable crimes. Our penal system is sadly in 
need of reform on the basis of psychological and anthropolog- 
ical science. All these problems are in their very essence 
pathological, or in another sense, educational problems.* 

It is almost needless to say that even apart from the de- 
mand of isolation, there ought certainly to be special schools, 
or at any rate, special classes, established for the education 
of children who are in any marked degree deficient. To lay 
the burden of their education upon the ordinary schools, is 
a grave error. Not only do they constitute an ever present 
danger of infection and contagion for the healthy children; 
but their own peculiar needs can be best attended to where 
all educational efforts are adjusted to that end. We ought 
to save as many as can be saved. 

There is another side to this. Bohannon (loc. cit.) shows 
that advantageous traits are inherited more than twice as 
frequently as disadvantageous ones. This indicates greater 
vitality on the part of those who are in greater conformity 
with the fixed type of civilization. It points on the one 
hand to the fact of a natural weeding out of degenerates, 
as shown before ; on the other hand to the great blessing of 
the influence of better environment and education. Bohan- 
non proves that less and less deficient children may be ob- 
served to be born in a family of degenerates as the biological 
conditions of the parents improve. He calls this the tri- 
umph of environment over heredity. 



*Cf. also LaMettrie, "L'Homme-Machine", published 1748. 



3i6 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

The change at adolescence may also join in as a helpful 
factor, viz. when good, e. g., race-preserving hereditary traits 
should happen to crop out at this period so as to defeat the 
degenerative effect of the bad, and of the environment. This 
possibility may explain some seemingly miraculous regenera- 
tions. 

But the problem under discussion is only one part of the 
great social problem of elevating the masses. The creation 
of healthy social conditions will go a great way towards the 
elimination of crime. For the sake of illustration of at least 
one factor in this process, I will quote from a very sugges- 
tive report of Mr. Jacob A. Riis on the first public play- 
ground instituted in the slum districts of New York City. 
"It may have been a coincidence that the rough gang of 
boys which used to disgrace that block on Second Ave. and 
occasionally did much mischief, has not been heard from 
since the old graveyard became a playground. It is a fact, 
anyhow, and my experience with Poverty Gap makes me 
feel quite certain that there is a connection between the 
two things. Over there it used to be next to impossible to go 
thru the block without being pelted with mud by the raga- 
muffins who very early developed into toughs of a peculiarly 
vicious stamp. They half killed two policemen, and out of 
sheer malice, beat to death the one boy in the block with a 
good reputation. The neighborhood was as desolate as it 
was desperate ; but when the wicked old tenements were torn 
down, and a public playground was opened on the site of 
them, with swings and sandheaps and wheelbarrows and 
shovels, the whole neighborhood changed as if by magic. 
There were no more outrages." 

Here is a wide field for the social reformer and for pro- 
gressive city boards! 

Then there is need of a systematic fight against intemper- 
ance, the great evil ; but care must be taken that this fight 
does not degenerate into ill-advised fanaticism and immoder- 
ate infringements of personal liberty for which there is no 
scientific basis and justification. There must be an intelli- 
gent and civilized warfare, such as will remove the real causes 
of intemperance. What we must principally fight against are 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 317 

the conditions of malnutrition and fatigue, of nervous deple- 
tion and degeneracy which will produce an undue craving for 
stimulants. 

Malnutrition and fatigue are the two great curses of suf- 
fering humankind. Well said Ingersoll in his lecture, "What 
Must We Do in Order to be Saved?" : "I believe in the gos- 
pel of good health, and I believe in the gospel of good living. 
. . . Let us have good food, and let us have it well 
cooked ; it is a thousand times better to know how to cook it 
than it is to understand any theology in the world". 

And let us elevate the conditions of women. The woman's 
question does indeed need most serious attention. The over- 
burdened women in the lower and middle classes ought to 
have their share of the higher aspirations of life, such as will 
lift them on the plane of modern civilization. The problem 
of how to relieve woman of the burden of home-duties with- 
out destroying home-life and atrophying her sacred functions, 
is a very difficult one; but we must bend our energies on its 
solution so that our wives may preserve that precious physi- 
cal strength which is requisite for blissful motherhood, and so 
that they may have time and energy left to devote themselves 
intelligently to their prime office, the education of our chil- 
dren in the home. Let us remember the wretched conditions 
of most of our working girls from whose ranks the mothers 
of the poorer classes are recruited. Miserable wages, over- 
work, temptations of all kinds are their lot; vain and un- 
wholesome amusements relieve their cheerless existence only 
to cast a peculiarly dismal light upon their pitiless situation. 
Only too true is what Hall Caine, in the "The Christian", 
makes John Storm say on the present position of working 
women upon whose well-being so much of society's welfare 
rests. 

In the upper classes we may discover a high degree of over- 
stimulation and frivolity. How few of the well-to-do women 
of to-day are capable of fully living up to the functions of 
motherhood, or are willing to do so. Most of them are vic- 
tims of fashion and "society." Alone the irrational dress of 
women is responsible for many defects in children and thus 
of many burdens to society. During adolescence, when girls 



318 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

(and boys, too) need the most careful consideration and most 
hygienic attention, they are most mercilessly chained down to 
their schooldesks, to pass their examinations, to graduate, at 
the risk of studying to exhaustion. Such is the decree of 
vanity and morbid ambition ; so will it tradition and fashion 
which walks without remorse over thousands of ruined con- 
stitutions. Let us not forget: the problem of ethical strength 
is at the same time a problem of physical health, of normal 
nervous activity. 

It must further be demanded that our boys and girls 
should be educated for the duties of parenthood. Away with 
that Pharisaical prudishness which prompts us to ignore the 
sexual element in the education of the healthy and moral 
life, a prudishness which anyway has nothing in common 
with genuine purity, but which causes countless sufferings. 
When it comes to marriage, let this holy union be based upon 
love rather than commercial and "society" considerations; 
and make sure that the biological conditions, the transmissible 
factors, in the contracting parties be healthy and advanta- 
geous. Not only the sins, but even the conventional follies of 
the parents are visited on the children upon the third and 
upon the fourth generations. 

The keynote of salvation is not a crusade of emotion, but a 
reform of public and private education. A rational education 
of the masses, of the classes, of the public, of the individual, 
of the parents, of the children. What we need is a new 
moral conscience, a new spirit and enthusiasm, a renewed 
sense of our tremendous responsibility. "He who wrongs 
the child, commits a crime against the state," says John 
Storm in "The Christian". The problem of popular edu- 
cation is, consequently, one of the most serious tasks of the 
state. But the more essential portion of that education whose 
most beautiful fruit is an ethical character, is within the 
domain of home-influences. This is a great subject which here 
can be alluded to only in passing. We must not persuade 
ourselves, by the way, to think that the homes of the so-called 
better classes offer in all instances a wholesome environment. 
Those homes where father and mother intelligently co-oper- 
ate, are unfortunately quite rare; generally one will destroy 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 319 

what the other builds. And let us understand that nothing is 
so confusing to the moral standard of our children ; nothing 
will more piteously and effectively destroy their simple and 
natural confidence than this ruption between those who ought 
to stand before their children's minds as ideals if not of per- 
fection, at least of noble aspiration and effort, of unity, har- 
mony, and love. 

And which are the "better" classes? The wealthy? But 
wealth, as a result of success in business, is not infrequently 
due to a wide and elastic conscience. Can we measure our 
commercial system with a rigorous moral standard? It has 
been claimed that nowadays no business can be successfully 
operated without systematic lying. This may be an exaggera- 
tion ; but the assertion is not so very wide off the mark. In 
the homes of the representatives of this commercial order, 
outwardly refined as they may seem, there is no genuinely 
moral atmosphere, there can be no healthy child-life. 

Even where wealth is the result of thoroly honest ef- 
fort, this effort may be so excessive, an effect of a mad com- 
petition, that an over-stimulation and a depletion of the 
nervous system is produced, and the rush of business may 
leave the unfortunate millionaire a nervous wreck. Under 
the circumstances, children may on the outset inherit nervous 
defects, and their development, while seemingly normal for a 
time, may contain the germ of degeneration. The commer- 
cial spirit which rules our age, does not offer an unqualifiedly 
healthy environment for the rising generation. At best, it 
imposes upon us the spurious standard of outward success in 
the place of the ethical standard of wisdom and moral per- 
fection. 

Even in the really good homes — and fortunately there wilL 
ever be a majority of these, among the rich and poor — moral 
education is a subtle, difficult task. We must first of all 
study and understand each individual child in order to de- 
velop him along his own individual lines, and to adjust our 
measures to his individual needs. No more fatal error can 
be made than to judge him from the standpoint of the adult. 
Children are by no means little men and women who can 
think and feel as their elders do, or whose standards are es- 



320 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

sentially like ours, or who can be expected to appreciate in 
every instance our adult standards and motives. Children are 
altogether different beings — they represent in their evolution 
from infancy to manhood and womanhood a series of epochs 
which correspond broadly to the periods in which the race has 
gradually emerged from barbarism and attained civilization. 
If this development is in any way interfered with or arrested, 
they may remain in a condition, or stage, which unfits them 
for the normal civilized life, and which will eventually give 
rise to abnormal and, perchance, directly criminal tendencies. 

Children of school age are not moral beings, strictly speak- 
ing; to them, few things are in themselves either right or 
wrong. Conscience is not an early growth ; it is the outcome 
of a slow process of maturing. A sane mind is the product 
of rational education. Where this is wanting, the mind 
remains more or less irrational. Children live in the present 
— to them, the future is only a dream of wild possibilities; 
they do neither understand, nor are they particularly con- 
cerned in, the logical consequences of their actions. This is, 
indeed, the paradise of childhood: the age of inexperience. 
Let us not unduly hasten their development lest by impa- 
tience or indiscretion we destroy precious germs. Yet how 
often do we not make the attempt to fashion child-nature in 
accordance with our own foolish notions; how often do 
we not misunderstand our children, and misinterpret their 
motives — and treat them as sinners when they were but chil- 
dren! 

Let us be reminded once more of the greatest factor in the 
education of young children: their imitativeness and suggesti- 
bility. It has been seen how dangerous is the unwholesome 
example. We must fortify our children against the evil in- 
fluences of spurious suggestions, by developing in them the 
art of independent thinking. "One very important thing for 
the schools to teach is the art of independent thinking. His- 
tory is replete with the records of delusions, evil scares, 
crazes, and stampedes, and one who reads these records and 
sees their parallel in a thousand phenomena of every day 
life, cannot help wishing for some process in education that 
will prepare men to see all possible aspects of a thing, enable 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 321 

them to play a sort of mental solitaire until these aspects are 
classified, and make them self-reliant enough to trust to 
their own judgment after it is formed." (M. H. Small, 
loc. cit.) 

The power of independent thinking will enable the child 
early to distinguish between helpful and spurious suggestions. 

We must also endeavor to win and retain our child's con- 
fidence so that he may in each and every case come to us, 
and to us alone, with his troubles and problems to seek ad- 
vice and consolation. By converting our children into our 
friends, and making their friends our friends, as far as this 
is reasonable, there will be established a unity of educational 
influence. The school-life of the child ought to be but a 
phase of his home-life, or a widening of the home circle. But 
above all, let us surround our children with an atmosphere 
of noble inspiration. Let us make the home a place where 
love and righteousness reign supreme. Let us remember: 
good examples are better than precepts. Then we may hope 
that iniquity will gradually disappear from this world. Let 
us hope that Ingersoll was right when he said : "I believe we 
are growing better. I don't believe the wail of want will be 
heard forever: that the prison and the gallows will always 
curse the ground. The time will come when liberty and 
law and love, like the rings of Saturn, will surround the 
world ; when the world will cease making these mistakes ; 
when every man will be judged according to his worth and 
intelligence." 



CHAPTER XX 

The Meaning of High School Education and Secondary Dif- 
ferentiation 

THERE has been a tendency to construct school 
curricula upon a retroactive basis, that is to say, 
to determine the courses of the lower schools so 
as to make them directly preparatory for en- 
trance into the higher. Much mischief has 
been done in this way. Not only has there been 
much misconception afloat as to what constitutes an 
elementary preparation for higher courses; but the 
special needs of the successive stages of child-develop- 
ment have been signally disregarded. We should turn 
the order around and say not that the ordinary school 
should adjust itself to the requirements of the high school, 
nor the high school offer a fitting for college, but that the 
high school courses must adjust themselves to what a rational 
elementary course has done for the child, and the college 
must adjust its requirements to the possibilities and charac- 
teristics of the high school graduate. Or still better, we 
must recognize that each school represents a distinct stage 
of mental evolution, and ought to minister to the needs of 
the growing mind at each stage. 

The high school age is that of adolescence. At 15, the 
individual is born, and a new awakening takes place in the 
mind of the youth and maiden. It is the time when reasoning 
buds forth, altho it is counterbalanced, and occasionally al- 
most drowned, by a tremendous gushing up of emotional 
elements. The individual attitude asserts itself, often with 
a force so antagonistic to the transmitted, conventional moulds 

322 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 323 

of family and general environment that it is truly startling. 
Out of the many possibilities afforded by hereditary and 
acquired endowments, there takes place the selection of a 
differentiated activity, commensurate to individual charac- 
ter, and which will make the individual a force to react 
upon his environment. It is the office of secondary education, 
then, to handle appropriately the material it is to work with, 
to develop the minds of our youth along truly rational lines, 
to allow of choice as well as to provide breadth of experi- 
ence in order to avoid a premature narrowing down to one- 
sided notions and passing fancies; to direct the heart from 
the crude self-centered emotions which well up at this period, 
to those ideals which point to the race, the human family as 
such, and to its preservation and uplifting. 

"During adolescence, when the interests, the likes and dis- 
likes, the enthusiasms and energies are very intense for periods 
of moderate length, it seems that specialization along lines 
of strong interest should, by all means, be allowed in the 
high schools, and possibly in the last grammar grades, in 
order that those adolescent energies be not wasted or turned 
into morbid channels, and that the habit be fostered in the 
youth of doing serious, intense work in the pursuit of what 
appears to him to be a worthy problem."* 

That the high school age is that of individual choice, has 
long been recognized. First, there set in a reaction against 
the prejudies of the classicists who maintained that without 
an exhaustive study of the ancient languages, or the so- 
called humanistic course in general, no higher education 
was possible, and this reaction has assumed enormous propor- 
tions. While the humanistic studies still hold their own to a 
certain extent, the educational value of the so-called realistic 
studies has become more and more admitted. Science, and even 
technical instruction, are gaining ground steadily and in- 
creasingly. "English, the modern languages, history, and 
the sciences," said Pres. Elliot, "can be made in secondary 
schools the vehicle of just as substantial training for the hu- 



*A. C. Ellis, "Suggestions for a Philosophy of Education," 
Ped. Sem., V, 2. 



324 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

man mind as Latin, Greek and mathematics." 

The desire to restore to the individual of high school age 
the right of individual choice, has given us the struggle over 
a system of "electives." In some high schools, there are ex- 
clusively elective courses, offered under different names, each 
separate course being somewhat meagre, it is true, and each 
furnishing a somewhat different combination of instructional 
elements. The recognition of the fact that none of these sep- 
arate courses may just meet the requirements of particular 
students has led to the further provision that each student 
may, under certain conditions, elect his studies to suit him- 
self. In some instances, this arrangement has produced al- 
most an instructional anarchy. 

An elective anarchy would be preposterous. It has been 
shown that under such a system a boy or girl may go up to 
college, or graduate from high school, without ever having 
had a decent training in history. Yet, history is a subject of 
which every truly educated person ought to have more than a 
smattering. It is at the foundation of intelligent citizenship. 
There are certain studies which are, at least in a measure, 
needful for everyone; such as history, language, science, and 
mathematics. To eliminate any of these elements from the 
secondary course of any individual would mean to cripple it 
sadly. Art inspiration, literature, and manual dexterity be- 
long in the same class. 

Again, too much "electiveness" would make re-adjustments 
on the part of the maturing student very difficult. Yet, such 
re-adjustments are characteristic of this period of wondrously 
rapid development. The individual attitude does not spring 
into existence full-grown like Minerva from the head of Jup- 
iter. It is a growth. Few boys and girls of 15 are quite sure 
of their future career; it is a pity if they are forced to choose 
then. They require more opportunity for experience. And 
then, there are unexpected changes, sometimes complete re- 
versions of feeling and aspiration. For these, we must be 
prepared, and in order to build securely for the future, we 
must lay in every youth's mind a broad and solid founda- 
tion composed of those things which are indispensable for 
culture, be it directed to whatever special subject it may 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 325 

hereafter. 

Of course, we may even at the outset recognize the differ- 
ent types of mind which present themselves to the observant 
educator, and which we may discover as early as in the ele- 
mentary school — always remembering, however, that the 
mind of the child of this age is not fixed and stereotyped, but 
still plastic. There are the linguistic type, the constructive 
type, the mathematical type, the artistic type, the scientific 
type, among others. We may be permitted to arrange them 
all in two great groups: 

( 1 ) The classical type — the abstract mind ; 

(2) The modern type — the realistic mind. 

All such classification has inherent defects ; but much might 
be said in justification of this way of grouping. 

But so much seems evident that high school differentiation 
should not consist so much in a more or less arbitrary selec- 
tion of subjects as in an opportunity for the individual atti- 
tude toward the subjects to assert itself. We must start with 
the pupil's own point of view, and from this lead him to a 
recognition of the proper relations and proportions of all 
branches of human knowledge with reference to his indi- 
vidual needs. But before a special subject can assume the 
dimensions of a world-view, the different studies and occupa- 
tions must have been explored and partly assimilated to be 
at last organized under the common heading of the individual 
aspiration and view-point. 

The individual attitude, tho, of course, based upon special 
aptitudes and experiences, is pre-eminently an emotional atti- 
tude. 

"It seems to be a universal fact that intellect grows out 
of emotion. Feeling, knowing, willing, is the order. . . . 
Instead of the regular repression now almost universally 
practiced toward what many may be pleased to call a craze or 
fad, these should be encouraged. The boy or girl should be 
pushed into them, and the glow should be turned, if possible, 
to a white heat. . . . The well-poised man of many 
sides, who, altho a specialist, sees the value and bearing of all 
other branches of knowledge on his own subject, cannot well 
result from anything else. To repress or discourage such 



326 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

tendencies limits our horizon at once."* 

The plan the author has in mind would present itself in 
about this form: with some exceptions perhaps, which need 
not here be specified, the course of study should contain about 
the same subjects for all. There should be the languages and 
literature, mathematics, history and geography, science, man- 
ual and art work, civics, etc. But not every student would 
approach each branch from exactly the same point of view, or 
do precisely the same work. To the philological mind, the 
structure of the languages, the style and mannerisms of an 
author, the historic evolution and kinship of languages and 
their distribution over the face of the globe, the abstract 
phases of mathematical reasoning, would appeal most 
strongly, while science work would assist him in his training 
in scientific methods of deduction. Art would to him be of 
interest mainly in its bearing upon the style and mannerisms 
of different peoples, while manual work would counterbal- 
ance his tendency to soar in abstract heights, by making him 
conscious of the concrete conditions of life on the earth which 
is after all the habitation of those speech-endowed peoples, 
and the source of all those concepts the mode of expression of 
which is so fascinating to him. 

The commercially inclined will seek facility in operating 
quantities thru their mathematical study. They will familiar- 
ize themselves with the great staples and products of different 
countries and with scientific methods of manufacture, by way 
of botany, zoology, mineralogy, chemistry, physics, and 
geography. The manual occupations will be found extremely 
valuable as illustrative of, and instructive in, industrial civil- 
ization, technical progress, and the means of transportation. 
The historical evolution of mankind will present itself to 
their minds under the aspect of a gradual development 
toward intercourse, exchange, and commerce. The lan- 
guages, modern rather than ancient, will be of importance to 
them as vehicles of intercommunication. They will study art 
from the industrial side, in its application upon the mechanical 



*E. G Lancaster, "Psychology and Pedagogy of Adoles- 
cence." 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 327 

arts, and the perfection of designs for textile and other deco- 
rative trades. They will need a training in the proper and 
rapid reading of technical and scientific literature, books of 
travel and exploration, as well as on the character and idio- 
syncrasies of the peoples with whom they expect to traffic. 
Even civics will have a differentiated meaning to them, as it 
will represent the idea of law and order, of equity and mu- 
tuality, as the only sure basis upon which to build a safe 
commercial structure and international intercourse. 

Again, the artistic mind will assimilate all those things 
most readily which appeal to his sense of beauty. History 
and literature are, to him, the history of ideals and of meth- 
ods in art, expressive of the genius of the nation which pro- 
duced them. The earth presents to him a variegated aspect 
of impressive scenery, the characteristic setting of the great 
events of history which arouse his emotional interest and in- 
spire his representative imagination. Science opens up to him 
a stupendous empire of beautiful forms; even anatomy and 
physiology serve him only to appreciate the true and har- 
monious proportions of the human form. The artist under- 
stands thus how function and form are intimately related. 
Language, to him, is also a matter of artistic handling — he 
cares for its poetry, beauty of sound, style, and grace of ex- 
pression. Mathematics appeals to him as the science of pro- 
portion and symmetry, and thru the manual occupations, he 
acquires skill and trueness of hand and eye. Likewise, the 
scientific mind, the constructive mind, or whatever you please, 
will approach these self-same subjects which are truly needful 
for all, each from his own individual point of view. 

There are, in every true high school course, elements of 
general culture which cannot be readily disposed of as sub- 
servient to special needs and ends. Thus, the inspiration of 
human idealism as afforded by literature and art, and the 
development of a just estimation of civic duties which every- 
one needs as the future citizen of a democratic republic, must 
not be made light of in secondary education. 

It will be seen that a scheme like this would make the 
transition from one course to another easy enough, as soon as 
the student's attitude of mind should change. For the sub- 



328 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

ject matter in all courses would be essentially alike, so that 
there would be no gaps to speak of. In fact, a change would 
hardly be called a transition from one course to another in- 
asmuch as the change of attitude would work its own ad- 
justment. 

This plan would also afford the most natural basis for cor- 
relation. "Correlation", says Arnold Tompkins, "in its 
deeper and truer sense, is nothing more than the organic life 
of the subject in its construction by the student in the pro- 
cess of realizing some life purpose. The objective world is 
fluid to the purposes of life and thought; and . . . the 
external world shaped to one purpose constitutes one subject, 
and shaped to another, another, etc. To correlate truly is 
nothing more nor less than to organize a subject." 

It may be asked whether secondary differentiation as the 
author understands it would require the establishment of sep- 
arate high schools that would correspond to these different 
individual attitudes. It will be seen later that for speciali- 
zation on the high school level, separate schools may com- 
mend themselves; but where secondary education is con- 
sidered an intermediate step toward higher culture, sepa- 
ration would seem inadvisable. 

Even when there are pronounced promptings in this or 
that direction the wisest course would be not to allow the 
student to devote himself to special studies too exclusively 
at this stage, to the exclusion of general culture, notwith- 
standing what has been said before. Crazes and fads should 
be temporary. 

It is especially the plasticity and immaturity of the adoles- 
cent mind, its frequent conversions and sudden transforma- 
tions which should make us cautious. 

Indeed, it would be equally unwise to force a young man 
or girl of this age into studies which are distasteful to him or 
her. There must be discreet acquiescence, at least temporar- 
ily, and tactful guidance, and above all: patience. While 
special provisions may be made for such particular cases, 
there may not even be any need of special courses. We may 
group the students as to age, maturity, and companionship, 
and in other ways which would present themselves to the 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 329 

executive wisdom of the principal of the school, for the pur- 
pose of convenient handling. But otherwise, we may teach 
the same subjects to the different types of mind in the same 
class as long as the teacher knows how to individualize so 
as to bring out each student's best effort, and to make each 
one a factor in the development of those broad elements of 
culture which are indispensable to all. Each student will 
then be allowed to do the work in the way he likes best, 
and can do best, and he will contribute to the common lesson 
what interests him most from his point of view. This very 
co-operation of all will prevent anyone's becoming too nar- 
row or superficial, and there will be wholesome competition 
mingled with the spirit of mutual respect and appreciation 
of the different individual standpoints and talents — a very 
valuable gain on the ethical side, to be sure. 

Respect for the individual attitude implies, of course, a 
valuing of results from the individual standpoint. There 
must be a certain elasticity in the requirements for examina- 
tions and graduation. 

One other point demands attention. Of all the differen- 
tiations taking place at this stage, the sexual differentiation 
is the most marked and momentous. There is not only a 
change taking place in maturity and aptitude, but essentially 
in emotional attitude. The girl of 15 is much more different 
from the boy of 15, than is a girl of 12 from the boy of 12, 
or the boy of 15 from the boy of 12. Should not this dif- 
ferentiation be recognized in high school work? 

The justifiable tendency to give woman as perfect an edu- 
cation as man has enjoyed thru ages of woman's disfran- 
chisement, has induced us to treat girls as if they were boys, 
to urge them thru the same instructional grist mill which 
grinds out our male citizens. In many instances the effect 
has been that boys were treated as if they were girls ; in other 
words, in the effort to fit the course to an average non-sex- 
ual standard, the best interests of the boys were sacrificed, 
and there happened what the author called elsewhere a 
"femalization of public school education." At any rate, 
there has been a great disregard everywhere of the special 
needs of the two sexes. I do not by any means plead for a 



33o THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

complete separation of the sexes in school, for co-education 
has many advantages and is the natural condition; neither 
do I wish to recommend a curtailment of the girls' oppor- 
tunities. But the girls of high school age need such train- 
ing as is best suited to their particular wants, and which 
would correspond to their special functions and sphere of 
activity without barring out the possibility of special pro- 
fessional training. 

To the author's mind, a girls' course which would appeal 
to, and educate, the female instincts, should lay special 
stress first of all upon a proper training of the emotions, 
thru literature and history. Thru literature, the girl will 
be introduced to character study which is the best foundation 
for psychologic insight. With woman, this insight will re- 
main largely intuitive, and literature is the best means to 
cultivate, deepen, and mature this intuitive power. History 
will mediate to the girl the ideals of civilization such as have 
found expression not only in the large life of communities 
and nations, but in the family circle whose inspiration was 
basic in all civilizatory efforts and developments. It is 
woman's share and function to inspire man to action, and 
this function is expressed largely thru the medium of those 
emotional ties which create the home. Woman is the home- 
maker, and the arts of home-making should stand foremost 
in the girl's course as it commends itself to me. A beauti- 
ful, bright home is a wonderful thing, and the cultivation of 
beauty thru art is one of the methods of acquiring the skill 
to create one. But there must be more substantial verities 
to enter into this precious fabric to make it real and durable. 
A home cannot thrive on sunlight and moonshine only. The 
hard facts of daily life must be mastered, and the battle with 
those little things that compose human existence must be 
waged. Domestic science, sewing, and the knack of house- 
keeping are indispensable factors in the training of the young 
girl. And she should study mathematics, too, as a counter- 
weight to overstrained romantic tendencies perhaps — or rath- 
er to train her in logical thinking or, if you please, in order 
to enable her to keep the household accounts straight. 

Mrs. Mary Wright Sewall, as president of the Interna- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 331 

tional Council of Women, Indianapolis, in a symposium in the 
October, 1899, "Chatauquan", said with regard to the ed- 
ucation of her own sex: 

"In fundamentals, I would not differentiate the education 
of woman from that of man at all. I think what is good for 
man is good for the development of the same fiber in the other. 
In advanced education I would differentiate woman, educa- 
tion from that of man by giving her more of history and phil- 
osophy. I would give her more history because she will get 
less of the value of history thru her contact with life than 
man will thru his. I would give her more philosophy for 
three reasons: First, her habits of life will probably give 
her more time in loneliness, which to the untrained mind is 
almost certain to induce a habit of day-dreaming and mental 
idling. Second, the habit of mind induced by philosophical 
study results in larger patience and surer fortitude, quali- 
ties which woman particularly needs. Third, as her life is 
likely to be given to details, and to the details of relatively 
small matters, she needs the horizon and inspiration derived 
from considering large general questions such as those which 
are the subject of philosophy. Practically, I would dif- 
ferentiate her education by giving her more natural science, 
that her more limited contact with human life may be sup- 
plied by quick perception of the relationships and resources 
of nature." 

One caution must be added with regard to our endeavors 
to give our girls the best possible education. Their organ- 
ism is much more delicate than the boys' ; and especially dur- 
ing the adolescent period the girl needs much care, and dis- 
creet attention. This warning is given by H. S. Curtis:* 

"Woman has such severe drains upon her energy . . . 
that in physical and intellectual achievements she has ever 
been the inferior of man. She may not be inferior in capacity, 
but she is in ability to endure protracted labors. The effect 
of excessive brain activity is most disastrous of all. . . . 
Mitchell, after commenting on the sad state of health of the 
American girl, lays the blame to the schools. He says: 'I 



*"Ii hibition," Ped. Sem., VI, I. 



332 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

firmly believe, and I am not alone in this opinion, that as 
concerns the physical future of women, they would do far 
better if the brain were very lightly tasked, and the school 
hours but three or four a day until they reach the age of 17 
at least.' " 

Every young woman, however, should be a graduate in 
housekeeping, as it were. Norwegian girls must be educated 
in household duties and render proof thereof before they are 
allowed to marry. Taking a suggestion from Helene Lange, 
E. A. Fabarius proposes in "Die allgemeine Dienstpflicht" to 
require by law of every normal girl of 18 years of age, three 
years' service in housework, nursing, sewing, etc., correspond- 
ing to the obligatory army service of the men.* 

Woman's work were not complete did it not include ma- 
ternal functions. Truly, motherhood is the crowning glory 
of woman's life, and if she has no children of her own, she will 
bestow that tenderness and educational intuition which are 
inherent in her nature, upon other women's children, as nurse, 
or governess, or teacher, or friend. But intelligent mother- 
hood does not come by instinct alone. There is need of care- 
ful training also in this direction. Every high school course, 
at least, for girls should include some sort of pedagogic prep- 
aration, some instruction in the handling of children, a kind 
of kindergarten course of a more general character, perhaps, 
leaving out the specially professional exercises. The girls 
should be given abundance of opportunity to assume responsi- 
bilities in taking care of younger children, at recess, on excur- 
sions, and the like. Similar provisions, by the way, should be 
made for boys — intelligent fatherhood is about as rare as in- 
telligent motherhood. 

Mental overstrain is apt to work much mischief at this 
period, as we have seen. This should not be so construed as 
to mean that there be only perfunctory work done, in a 
dawdling, frolicsome sort of way. Not at all. This is also 
the time for concentration of attention, and many suffer, 
not from overstrain, but from lack of concentrated effort 
in regular intervals. There must be intense work done by 



*"Notes abroad," Ped. Sem., VI, 1. 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 333 

both boys and girls, at the proper periods and in due 
proportion. But this strain should not be prolonged un- 
duly, and must be supplemented by physical exercises, 
sports, and gymnastics, so as to develop their youthful bodies 
to their full strength and to supple springiness, that they may 
be the ready tools of elastic, energetic minds. 

In what manner, then, does a real high school distinguish 
itself from a special school, a trade school, a technical school, 
a commercial school of like grade? 

We may perhaps express the difference between the two 
classes of secondary schools in this wise: a high school is an 
institution for the imparting of higher culture, commensurate 
to the individual mental attitude of adolescent students, and 
affords a training preparatory to further specialization on a 
higher level. The special high school, on the other hand, 
is an institution for the finishing of a life preparation along 
specially defined aptitudes; — it affords opportunity for 
elementary differentiation. It is for those who are either 
incapable of higher culture, or whose life aim to on the plane 
of rapid adaptation to "practical" pursuits; or who are pre- 
vented by some cause from attaining to the realization of the 
best that is in them. 

Much discussion has arisen of late as to whether in the 
high school a difference should be made in the training of 
those pupils who expect to go to college, and those who do 
not. While the reader may be reminded of what has been 
said in the beginning of this chapter as to the folly of retro- 
active courses of study, and as to each stage of a child's devel- 
opment demanding a treatment responding to the natural 
wants of this period, some other consideration may be allowed 
to enter into the discussion. A "preparatory" pupil, that is 
to say, one who expects to prepare himself in the high school 
for a college course, will study languages, modern and an- 
cient, with a view of using them as tools in his college work, 
for gaining culture thru the study of literature, science, and 
philosophy. The "non-preparatory" pupil, on the other hand, 
the one whose career will probably end with the high school 
course, should approach these same languages in a different 
way. He must be inspired by the humanistic side of language 



334 THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 

study now t as there will be no later opportunity. Out of his 
language work he must derive the literary, artistic and ethical 
influences which the preparatory pupil will enjoy later on, 
on the college level. The non-preparatory high school pupil 
will have to sacrifice some of the drill in correctness and fa- 
cility so as to have the full benefit of the culture value of 
language study at this stage. This view of the two currents 
of educational effort which are supposed to run side by side 
in the work of the high school, involves indeed an interest- 
ing aspect of the problem. 

It may perhaps be claimed, with some degree of justice, 
that the distinction between preparatory and non-preparatory 
pupils refers rather to the differentiation between high schools 
proper and the secondary special schools of which mention 
has been made. And it would surely be unwise to emphasize 
the difference between these two classes of students so 
strongly that readjustments to changing attitudes and as- 
pirations were futilized. Whenever a prospective preparatory 
pupil, having been confined to narrower limits, should find 
that he cannot, or cares not to, go to college, his high school 
education will have largely failed of its purpose. Prof. Dewey 
says of the function of the high school : 

"It must on the one hand serve as a connecting link be- 
tween the lower grades and the college, and it must, upon the 
other, serve as a final stage, as itself the people's college, to 
those who do not intend to go, or who do not go to college." 

It seems that a student who has received a good all-around 
high school education, will prove to be the best possible ma- 
terial for college. 

Broadly speaking, the high school stands for the adolescent 
part of what has been called a liberal education. The follow- 
ing inspiriting paragraph from an editorial in Appleton's Pop- 
ular Science Monthly, of January, 1900, will fitly close this 
argument : 

"A liberal education, let it be thoroly understood, is not 
one which delivers over an individual to the dominant influ- 
ences of his place and time, whatever they may be, but one 
which enables him to react, when necessary, against such in- 
fluences under the guidance of wider views and deeper prin- 



THE CAREER OF THE CHILD 335 

ciples. It is an illiberal education, let it embrace what it may, 
which simply equips a man for exploiting for his own benefit 
the conditions and tendencies which he finds prevailing in 
the society around him ; and too much of what passes for lib- 
eral education has, we fear, had no better result. . . . 
Let our colleges and universities see to it that they under- 
stand 'a liberal education' in the right sense." 



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